Broken Chains
by Leave it at that
Summary: After Ron and Harry fail to rescue her from Bellatrix, Hermione is trapped in Malfoy Manor. Now she has to face Voldemort alone, but is she completely alone? Suddenly she is bonded to Draco. Then Draco and Hermione wind up somewhere they never imagined they'd be- bonded for life. Set during DH. EWE.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHORS NOTE: **This is my first fan fiction. Feel free to review if you want to, but please do not feel obligated. If you have some criticisms I would be happy to hear them (well, mostly happy.) About 70% of the story is written already- so I promise I won't leave you hanging (rookie mistake)!

**As a warning- this is rated MA for a reason! IT GETS DARK. Torture, rape, and Voldemort being an incredibly creepy dude are just some of the themes. Please do NOT read this if it is not your cup of tea, or if you are young and impressionable- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Also, the first chapter is the worst in terms of graphic violence, so if you are with me through that- the ending is happy. **

Now with that ominous and slightly cheesy note out of the way….

* * *

All Hermione could feel was the pain of the dagger cutting into her arm, carving into her skin. Above her, Bellatrix laughed. It was an insane, unhinged, and maniacal laugh that Hermione knew would haunt her dreams if she ever made it out of this bloody manor alive. And Hermione was a smart enough witch to realize that her chances of survival were slim to none.

"HOW DID YOU GET INSIDE MY VAULT?" Bellatrix screamed.

"We…didn't… it's… fake." Hermione sobbed. She couldn't open her eyes- the world around her was just too painful. At least that was one thing she could control; she didn't have to watch them while they tortured her. She thought that maybe if she kept her eyes closed, the blackness would envelop her and she would fade peacefully into death. Like floating away.

"Crucio…crucio!"

Hermione felt nothing but pain. It was as if she were on fire, and being stretched from the inside out. The only thing that she could hear was this horrible, pitiful screaming sound. She wanted to help the poor person who was making such a horrifying noise. Then Bellatrix's curse lifted, the pain stopped, and Hermione realized that she was the one screaming.

Everything seemed fuzzy. She laid, crumpled on the floor, unable to even process what was going on around her. When she finally had the strength to open her eyes, she realized that the whole world had gone blurry. She heard voices, but they were muffled, as if her ears were filled with water. She knew that there was a commotion going on around her, but she couldn't make out any of the individual people. Then she felt a strong hand drag her upright into a standing position, and she felt a knife being pressed to her throat.

Whatever leftover adrenaline was still in her body allowed her to focus, and keep conscious.

"Drop your wands, or she dies!" Bellatrix voice shrieked from behind her. She felt the blade dig in, breaking the surface of the skin on her neck. She was able to focus on the faces of Harry and Ron, as they slowly lowered their weapons. Then Harry's eyes moved to the ceiling above her head, and Hermione wondered what he was looking at. She couldn't bring herself to find the energy to move her head back, but she gasped when she suddenly felt herself being pulled backwards by Bellatrix. The chandelier crashed to the ground in the area where they had just been standing. "Call him, Lucius." Bellatrix shrieked.

"Nooo," screamed Harry.

"Go! Please, Dobby." Hermione half screamed, half pleaded, using the last of her energy. She knew that neither Harry nor Ron would ever leave without her. She saw Dobby look at her, nod, and then take hold of both Ron and Harry. Together they disapperated with a crack, but not before Bellatrix hurled her knife straight at Harry's heart.

Hermione felt one small moment of triumph- her friends were safe. Then she succumbed to the darkness and fainted.

* * *

Draco watched as his parents paced around the room, looking frantic.

"Did you call him?" His mother asked.

"Yes." His dad looked scared, but his eyes fell on Hermione's unconscious form.

"We don't tell him that Potter was here. Just say we captured the mudblood bitch. He will praise us, kill her, and no one will be the wiser."

"Agreed," said his Aunt Bellatrix. Draco knew that she was unswervingly loyal to the Dark Lord, but apparently her fear of loosing favor with him overrode her desire to follow him completely- how very Slytherin, he thought.

Hermione began to stir on the floor by his feet.

"Listen, mudblood," Lucius said, crossing over to her prone body. "We captured you alone. You know that if you tell The Dark Lord that you helped Potter escape again he will make you death even more drawn out and painful. His mind can come up with scenarios so sick that your pure little heart would not even dream of them being possible. So if you know what is good for you, say nothing."

She nodded, looking completely broken. She was bleeding from several places, and her eyes had a glazed, dead look that Draco had seen before when Voldemort had made him watch as he tortured other wizards. He wished that she had escaped. He didn't want to have to watch her scream anymore. When Potter and Weasley had shown up with they crude escape attempt, Draco couldn't bring himself to try and seriously hurt them. He had even given up his wand in a tussle with Potter so that he wouldn't have to hurt anyone. If only he had gotten to Hermione before his psychotic aunt. Now she was stuck here in his own little circle of hell. Voldemort would come, and he would kill her just like he had killed so many others before her.

But this wasn't some nameless muggle- this was Granger. This was the girl he had cursed for beating him on every test they had ever taken. This was the only girl to ever hit him. This was the Gryffindor golden girl, bookworm extraordinaire, and innocence personified. He knew with an unflinching certainty that if he had to watch her die, it would break him. He had already seen so much death. He saw that she was terrified, but he just stood by as his self-disgust festered, and the entire group waited for the Dark Lord to arrive. He wondered if he would ever be man enough to stop just standing by.

Unfortunately Hermione had fully regained consciousness due to her fear. She tried to fight with her sluggish mind. _I need a plan. How can I escape? _But her brain was entirely unhelpful; she couldn't get past the fear of Lucius Malfoy's words. What could Voldemort really do to her that was worse than the cruciatus curse? She didn't want to die. She wanted to defeat Voldemort, live a long life, and make the wizarding world a better place. Her terror was rising, like bile in the back of her throat, threatening to suffocate her. Then she heard the graceful footsteps of a man walking towards their group, and she realized that her previous terror was nothing compared to the heart-pounding, gut-wrenching nausea she was experiencing now.

"My Lord," Bellatrix purred. "We have captured the mudblood bitch, the best friend of Harry Potter." The way that she looked at Voldemort reminded Hermione of a lovesick teenager. It was absolutely revolting. Then Hermione stared as he slithered into the room, coming to a stop right in front of her crumpled form. He was simply the ugliest creature she had ever seen. He didn't even look human anymore.

"What iss thiss? The pure little mudblood. You are the one who has been helping little Harry Potter hide from me. I have heard the stories. The clever girl. The kind mudblood. Champion of the weak and liberator of house elves. The girl who dares think herself an equal with thosssse she is not fit to touch."

On the word touch he leaned down and pressed a long cold finger against her cheek. She shuddered.

"Does my touch repel you? Many would kill for the mere possibility of me laying a finger on them, but you, mudblood, reject me. I had thought to just feed you to Nagini, but now I have a much greater plan." He turned to address the death eaters who were in the room.

"It is our duty to teach mudbloods their status in my new world order. As a prize to the Malfoy family for bringing me this gem, I am giving her to them. This high-and-mighty Gryffindor, Harry Potter's closest friend, mudblood, and symbol of all things that I despise, I want you to break her." His voice was cold. "She is to become the family pet. After all, what boy doesn't want a pet" He gestured to Draco, who had been standing quietly slightly behind his parents.

"And as a thank you for my generosity, you, Draco, are going to prove to me right now that she is not as pure as she pretends."

Draco thought he was going to throw up. After everything he had been forced to do to survive living with Voldemort, he thought that there was nothing that would surprise him anymore. He had tortured, watched people be murdered and done nothing to help, and even watched the bodies of the dead being feed to that bloody snake. But this, having to rape a classmate while his parents and Voldemort watched was so heinous. Was survival really worth this?

"I'm waiting Draco." The dark lord crooned. "Either you do it or your father will, and then he will open up your ass for daring to disrespect me when I give you a gift."

With that he waved his wand and Hermione suddenly was naked, curled in the fetal position on the floor, her arm still bleeding slowly.

Unsure of what to do, he looked at his mother who gave him a nod. She was trying to encourage him that things would be all right. That this was just one more task to complete for survival. The alternative to not doing it was worse.

He swallowed hard, realizing that there was really nothing left to do but get this over with as quickly as possible. Turning to Hermione, jaw set, he realized he had never been less aroused in his entire life. How was he supposed to make his body want to do this?

As he unbuckled his pants he suddenly felt a weird tingling go through his body, as if it had fallen asleep from the waist down. His eyes flicked quickly back to his mother and father, just in time to see her wand disappear up her sleeve. Then he suddenly realized the real purpose of her spell; he was now hard.

He hadn't yet been able to make himself look at Hermione's face. He grabbed her roughly by the waist and pulled her up onto her hands and knees. This way he didn't have to see her face, though he couldn't do anything about the crying or screaming that was burning his ears and crushing his soul.

He couldn't feel it, as he raped her. He realized from her initial outcry that she must have been a virgin. _This war is no place for a virgin_, he thought morosely. He had learned that lesson long ago, when his own virginity had been taken. A few more quick thrusts and he pulled away, his cock spraying across the back of her ass, though he didn't feel any sort of orgasm. He tucked his cock back into his pants and stood up calmly. All he wanted to do was to get away so that he could cry, and maybe kill himself. But Voldemort was saying something, so he had to wait.

"Ohh, what fun. Well this will work out just perfectly. Congratulations Draco on your new pet. I shall of course be dropping by to make sure that you are training her properly. She can sleep tied to your bed, or in a cage if she needs to be punished. When you are through with her I want her to have forgotten her own name. She should respond only to pet, or puppy. I like the sound of that. Don't you puppy?"

Hermione just continued crying and shivering on the stone floor.

"I said, DON'T YOU PUPPY?" He screamed.

"Ye..e..ess." Hermione sobbed.

"Good girl. Now Draco, if you fail to train her properly. Well, I have no use for a defective pet, and I will kill you for disappointing me. I hate it when people disappoint me. " He turned to leave the manor.

"I almost forgot, she will need clothes" With a bored flick of his wand a thin golden chain encircled her waist, where it connected with another chain that ran between her legs. Her upper arms were adorned in gold arm cuffs and around her neck was a thick silver chain that connected to a golden chain leash. The end of the leash floated lazily through the air towards Draco until it rested in his hand. It also seemed that The Dark Lord had altered her appearance, removing all of the hair on her body and taming her hair so that it flowed in smooth ringlets down her back. He had also darkened her eyes with dark makeup so that she looked like a concubine, being served to her master. A short robe made of translucent black chiffon and silk fell open at her sides, enhanced the illusion even more than her previous nakedness. She looked broken, but still beautiful.

With that the Dark lord walked out.

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy was the first to break the silence, "You heard the Dark Lord, Draco, take her to your room. And here, dear, take this spare wand in case she tries to attack you."

Hermione was beyond caring what happened to her as she followed Malfoy to his room. Everything was just too horrible for her mind to process fully. She didn't care what Malfoy did to her now. It had seemed that Lucius was right; Voldemort had known exactly what would crush her spirit. Loosing her friends, having the word mudblood carved into her, and then being raped was too much.

Malfoy was still holding her leash as they entered his room. As soon as they crossed the threshold he muttered "muffliato." He immediately dropped the chain, fell to his knees, and vomited all over the carpet.

"I am so sorry. So… sorry…sorry." He muttered as he got up and we ran to his bed and heaved the comforter off. As he approached her, Hermione cringed inward, thinking it was another attack. But all he did was fling the entire comforter around her shoulders, so that her previously naked boy was covered. Then his hands moved to her throat and he unclipped the leash and threw it across the room so that it was as far away from Hermione as possible. He then backed away from her, until the backs of his legs hit the edge of his four-poster bed, and he sat down upon it. He then muttered, "So… god-damned… sorry" as he buried his head in his hands and wept.

Hermione watched him as he sat on the bed crying. She looked to the door, thinking that maybe she could make a run for it. But out there was Lucius, Narcissa, and Bellatrix, as well as any other death eaters who were lurking around Malfoy manor. At least in this room she had a blanket. Realizing that Malfoy didn't plan on attacking her again, she let go of any residual adrenaline coursing though her system and crumpled, crying, onto the floor, still cocooned in Malfoy's comforter.

Somehow she had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion. In her dreams, she saw Bellatrix and Voldemort holding out dog treats saying, "There's my pet."

She woke up screaming.

"It's ok, it's ok, it's ok" Draco whispered, trying to calm a frantic Hermione.

She was so distraught, and for a few minutes all she could do was try and force herself to breath slowly. Air came in through the nose, out through the mouth, like her mother used to do in yoga. God that felt like a lifetime ago- she thought. Oddly, the contrast between her memories of doing yoga in her parent's living room and her current terror curled up on Malfoy's floor calmed her. There was some good in the world. Even if she couldn't see it right now.

Finally she felt brave enough to look up at Malfoy.

"It's not ok," she said, meeting his eyes for the first time.

"I know," he said, just as stoically. "But I don't know how to make it better. Honestly, Granger, I am barely surviving here."

"And you have to look out for yourself, who cares about some mudblood. It's a good thing you hate me." She sighed, "I guess that makes this easier for you- that I'm disposable."

Malfoy was surprised. She said it without a hint of anger or sarcasm, but a quiet acceptance. It seemed that she was aware of his prejudice, and wasn't even going to waste her breath pleading with him. It made Draco sick. That she could be so sure that he was not going to fight for her. Yes, in the past he had called her a mudblood, but that was when he was an ignorant git. He had always thought that she was a person. When had he become this person, this monster? As he crouched over her, being careful not to touch her, he made a vow to himself. He may not be good enough to deserve to survive. He may have become this jaded, inhumane, coward, but he was going to save her. He was going to make sure she survived. Because there shouldn't be a world without Hermione Granger in it, and he was going to make sure the future had a fighting chance. Even though he had never liked her at Hogwarts, there was no denying that she was one of the few witches of their age who could change the world. Maybe if he could just save her then his slate would finally be clean.

There had been silence in the room while Draco made his vow. Finally he touched her hand and sat down completely on the floor. They were now on the same level.

"Hermione, I am not going to leave you. You are NOT GOING TO DIE. We are going to survive together. And if we can't do that, then you are going to survive alone."

Her mouth was slightly ajar, and Draco couldn't help but think how vulnerable she looked sitting there cocooned in his comforter.

"Promise me- you won't give up. Because if you won't give up, I won't give up."

She nodded.

"Say it. Say 'I won't give up.'"

"I won't give up."

It seemed that after that declaration, there was a newfound bond of trust between Hermione and Draco. It was not a very strong bond, but it was there.

Draco had also realized that Granger was naked under that short black excuse for a robe.

"Do you want some clothes? I think I have some pajamas that might fit you. Anything has got to be better than nothing."

"Yes… please."

So Draco went to his closet and pulled out his old worn-out England quidditch pants and a shirt. He laid them on the bed, and then he walked into the bathroom to give her some privacy.

Alone in the bathroom he sat down on the edge of the bathtub and did what any good Slytherin does best, he started to plot.

_First, was escape an option?_

_Answer: no._ They were in the middle of the Dark Lords base camp. Also, apparition had been suspended when the Dark Lord came to stay, so the only way in or out (except for elf magic) was through the front gate. Because he was an official, mark-carrying death eater, he couldn't just disappear with Hermione. They would be hunted down, and then he would be killed. She would be killed or worse - brought back to the manor.

He supposed it would be slightly possible to attempt to escape and then split up if they managed it. He would most certainly die, but she might have a fighting chance. It would all depend on whether or not Voldemort thought she was important enough to chase after, or if his pride had been bruised by their escape. So all in all, escaping at the moment was not looking like the best plan.

So, second problem. If they had to stay, how did he protect Granger?

He would try to keep her in his room as much as possible. He couldn't trust his parents. He knew they were both as afraid of the Dark Lord as he was, and they were also trying to survive until this was over, but they didn't care about Hermione at all. They were likely to serve her up to Voldemort if they thought it would grant the Malfoy family favor.

She would have to play along. He had spent months learning that playing along and following orders was the best way not to get killed. Playing along was going to be a lot harder for her, as she was supposed to act like his personal pet.

So was there any way to make that easier? What if they could talk without the Dark Lord listening in? Then at least she could follow his lead, or tell him if she was about to break under the stress.

Well, he thought, getting up from the edge of the tub- that was enough of a plan to be getting on with. He needed to talk it over with Granger, and see if maybe she had any better ideas.

So he moved back into the bedroom.

* * *

Hermione was not sure which shocked her more, that Malfoy was willing to help her or that he had left her alone in his bedroom. She had briefly thought about trying to make a run for it, but just as quickly realized that there was no way that she could make it to the edge of Malfoy manor without getting caught. Even if she did, she didn't have a wand, so she couldn't apparate. The chances of success were infinitesimal, and the consequences if she got caught were too severe for her to risk her life on a foolhardy plan.

After she dressed, she heard Malfoy come back in from the bathroom.

"We need to strategize," he said. "If we try to escape from the manor, we are both most likely going to die. My guess is that the Dark Lord would never stop hunting for either of us. He doesn't like when people disobey him." He shuddered slightly, as if he was remembering something horrible.

"Hopefully, we can find an opportunity to convince him that you died, or that we both died. Then he won't come looking for us. But until then the only safe play is for us to do what he commands. From what I've seen, you don't live for very long if you can't follow the Dark Lord's orders."

"Draco, I don't know if I can go through that again," Hermione said honestly. "Every time he touched me, I wanted to scream. My skin felt like it was crawling with beetles. And then you raped me." She was crying silently now.

"I know it's no excuse, but if I hadn't my father would have. Then because the Dark Lord was displeased he probably would have tortured us both."

"I know." She paused, "that's what makes this so messed up."

"I've been thinking. What if there was a way that we could communicate privately, away from the Dark Lord, and then it wouldn't feel as horrible. It would still be traumatic, but at least you wouldn't be alone. You would know that I hate him every bit as much as you do."

"Unumentis" Hermione whispered.

"What?"

"More commonly known as the mind meld charm, it allows two wizards to connect with each other so that they can speak without verbalization. Lifelong auror partners mainly use it to respond to threats cohesively. It's almost like a telepathic connection. But it is only broken by death. Most people call it the soul-bond, because it is said that the wizard's very souls can not be broken apart."

"Figures you would know. How do we do it?"

"You do realize that you just willingly decided to tie yourself to me for life. It is deeper than just communication. You will be able to sense when I am in pain, or when I feel threatened. It will not matter if I am right in front of you or if I am half way across the world. It will also hurt when I die. I've read stories about pairs where one partner killed himself, and the other partner was so racked with guilt and pain that he was driven insane by severing of the bond. "

She took a breath, and Draco almost smiled. It was like they were back at Hogwarts again, and she was been a snotty little show off. Heck, some of the bond descriptions she just gave were probably word-for-word from a library book.

"That means, even if we are both lucky enough to survive this war, you will still be tied to me until either of us dies. Are you really willing to do that with a mudblood? One you don't even like? This is a life-altering charm, Malfoy."

"First off, if were are going to be sharing our thoughts, you should learn to call me Draco. Second, I think we are going to need to do this if we want to survive. And…" He paused, taking a deep breath.

"And, I don't want you to think I like this. Making you my pet, it's sick. I don't want you to ever think that I am like him." He hung his head.

For the first time, Hermione leaned over towards Draco, and put her hand on his shoulder. She could tell that her touch startled him, and he looked up suddenly.

"I do trust you… Draco. Not very much, but enough to try."

"It is a little odd, hearing you call me that."

"I keep expecting for you to call me mudbood, Granger, or little-miss-know-it-all."

"I never called you that last one. It isn't even very creative. Are you sure it wasn't Weasel?" He smirked, "I pride myself in coming up with better nicknames than that."

And though Hermione never would have believed it an hour ago, she smiled.

"Well now that we are stuck together, you have all the time in the world. Impress me."

"I do have one I call you." His face went slightly pink, "I will tell you tomorrow; I have a feeling we are both going to need something to look forward to."

Hermione nodded, "Ok, tomorrow."

"Now, we need to preform that charm. I want a few hours to get used to it before we have to fool other people."

"Are you completely sure?"

"Yes, Granger."

"Hermione. If I am going to call you Draco, you have to call me Hermione."

"Right, sorry. Yes, Hermione. I'm sure."

"Alright, the spell is kind of dangerous to preform. If either of us rejects the bond, we will both be in serious pain. Usually, this is done with a team of healers on standby, but I guess we don't have that luxury. First our foreheads have to be touching, and then we both have to concentrate on opening our minds. You should try visualizing opening a door or pushing back a screen around your brain. Then once we feel the presence of the bond, you are supposed to summon a memory of the person that you are trying to bond with. It has to be a good memory, if not the bond will sour, and we will not be able to communicate clearly."

"Do you even have any good memories of me?" Malfoy interrupted.

"One night I was walking to the library and I heard crying coming from an abandoned corridor…" Hermione could see it like it was yesterday.

_Even though it was the beginning of fourth year, she was still going to start studying for her O.W.L's. She had been angry with Harry and Ron for teasing her about being such as know-it-all, so part of the reason was she just wanted some peace and quiet. She loved her best friends, but sometimes they were just such- boys. The noise had startled her. Turning into the corridor she saw Hannah Abbot curled up against the wall, her head resting on her knees. Her crying had mostly stopped, though she hiccupped every few seconds, and her eyes were still misty. _

_"What's wrong Hannah?" she asked. _

_"Oh, nothing. I am just being silly. You see, I had a sort of crush on Cormac McLaggen. Today he found out. I was just sitting in the great hall eating breakfast when he comes up to me and starts laughing at me and saying such awful things." _

_Hermione just nodded and kept patting her hand, knowing that she shouldn't interrupt. _

_"He told me I was ugly, and that he would never kiss a Hufflepuff. He said he would rather go on a date with one of Hagrid's blast-ended-skrewts." She squeaked the last word and started crying again._

_"I am so sorry Hannah. Listen, he's not worth it. He's just a stupid boy."_

_"Yea, that's what Draco said."_

_"Draco, Draco Malfoy?" Hermione was shocked. _

_"Yea, he was there. He actually stood up for me. He said that McLaggen was just upset that Gryffindor had lost to Hufflepuff last year in Quidditch. He told Cormac, in front of the whole school, that he was a sad little prick and that he would personally write a letter to Cormac's mum saying what a pathetic excuse for a man he was. Then he gave me his handkerchief and told me that Cormac wasn't worth another thought. He was so sweet." _

_Hannah fiddled with the white fabric in her hand, and Hermione saw the Malfoy crest embroidered in fine silver thread in the corner. _

Hermione pulled out of her reverie, and looked at Malfoy. "Even though you weren't there, I still remember thinking 'maybe it is just us. Maybe he is secretly a good guy, and the hatred runs too deep with Harry and Ron for us to see it.' I don't know, but in that moment I actually liked you."

Draco sighed. She was right. He had always felt like he turned into this other person whenever Potter was around. Weasel and Granger had gotten that too because they were always so close to Potter. Maybe, he needed to forget about that so that he could keep Granger safe.

He searched his memories trying to come up with a good one for Hermione.

"It was our first potions class. You had all of this bushy hair and had already become the class know-it-all. Do you remember Snape yelling at Potter for not knowing a bezoar, and you had your hand raised so high, desperately wanting to prove that you knew the answer." He laughed.

"This doesn't sound like a particularly good memory."

"I'm getting there, Hermione, don't rush me. Anyways. It was after that. Snape asked up to get out our cauldrons and brew a simple potion- a cure for boils. Your cauldron was close to mine, and you finished before I did. I remember looking up at you right as you were done, and the potion turned the deep blue color that it was supposed to be. You looked like you had never seen anything so amazing. It was almost like you were being introduced to magic for the first time. I had never seen such a pure love of magic. I thought maybe my parents were wrong. Maybe magic can choose anyone."

He finished his story, looking at her. "You came a long way from a potion to cure boils."

She just smiled. "Ok, let's do this."

* * *

They both sat down cross-legged on the floor, foreheads touching. Draco tried to imagine the top of his skull splitting open and then peeling back. Hermione used his replacement wand to cast the spell. "Unnumentisss" she whispered, moving the wand in a complicated zigzag motion.

Draco began to feel like there was a worm made entirely of light and warmth crawling up his forehead from where he was touching Hermione. It seemed to travel up to the crack in his skull that he had envisioned, until it slipped into his mind. He started concentrating on Hermione. How brave she was. How clever. How good and pure. He focused completely on that one moment, were her eyes had lit up and she had stared in wonder at the magic she had just created. Then there was a blinding flash of pure white light that seemed to engulf both of them, which faded as quickly as it had started.

"It's done." Hermione said, though she sounded like she had just run a mile. Draco realized that he was out of breath as well.

"Did it work?"

"I think so, from what I read. A white light means a good bond. Red is a love bond. Green is true friendship. We would have been in trouble if it had glowed black."

"Well, what does white mean?" Draco asked.

"I don't know. White bonds are really rare according to what I have read. Most are green. I don't think anyone ever classified it, other than saying it was good."

"That's good then."

They sat in silence for a few moments, both trying to catch their breath. Hermione's yawn broke the silence.

"We should either try communicating, or go to sleep." She said sleepily.

"We need to at least try. No one expects me to be up and moving before noon anyways, and the more time you spend in here the safer it is."

"Ok, well I think it is almost like writing a letter. You focus on the words that you want to say and then you try and send them through space and towards me."

"Alright Granger, I'm thinking of a number between one and ten."

Malfoy screwed up his face, concentrating so hard that he looked constipated.

"I got nothing." She said, after a minute and his face starting to turn pinkish.

"Well, lets see you try" he said, sounding annoyed.

Hermione thought of a piece of parchment, and on it she used a big white feather quill to write the letter eleven very clearly. Then she visualized a thin string, connecting her brain to Draco's, and she watched as an invisible ant carried the parchment down the string and towards Malfoy's brain. She imagined the parchment unrolling so that it covered the top of his head like a funny hat. Then the paper dissolved, and she saw him look at her with awe.

"Eleven," he whispered.

"That's right!"

"Damn, Granger, is there anything you can't do?"

Hermione smiled. If it had been Ron she had done this with he would have complained about how she always got everything first try. He had been bitter since their first year, when she corrected him on his 'swish and flick' movements in charms class. If it had been Harry sitting here, he would have just rolled his eyes and said that he expected nothing less. Draco's compliment took her by surprise.

"I thought you were going to start calling me Hermione. And don't cuss."

He screwed up his face again, but then let out a breath and relaxed. All of the sudden Hermione could feel a slight tingling in the front of her skull. It wasn't unpleasant, like the feeling you get when your foot falls asleep. It was more like a cool breath right up against her skin. Then she heard a soft voice in the back of her mind.

_Damn. _

She smiled- the git. It didn't sound like his speaking voice exactly, which surprised her. Instead it was deeper, more soothing, as though he was trying to calm her. She had to admit it was a pleasant voice. She tried their new communication again.

_Does my 'head' voice sound different from my speaking voice?_

_Yea, it is not as whiny. _ The way he said it, Hermione could tell that he was joking, so she didn't take offense.

_Yours is deeper, more masculine than your actual voice. _

_I want to try something. Standby._

All of the sudden Hermione felt a rush of grief and guilt. It was so much that she though she was going to be sick. Her stomach was forcing itself out of her body through her esophagus, but it seemed to have gotten stuck around her pharynx. She couldn't speak. Her eyes were watering and her tongue felt three times is normal size.

_STOP, please. _

Then just as suddenly as the feeling had come, it stopped.

_That was how I felt, when I realized what he wanted me to do to you. I am so sorry Hermione. _

At that moment Hermione realized that he really was going to protect her. He couldn't fake a feeling that horrible, and she knew instinctively that he couldn't lie through the bond. So she moved closer to him until she could rap her arm around his shoulder.

_I don't blame you, _she sent through their new bond.

_But I blame myself, _he answered back quickly, growing more comfortable with the bond.

She thought about the safety that she felt now- the fact that she had been able to smile (more than once) in the last hour. She thought about how, as odd as it seemed, Draco Malfoy had become an ally. She took all of those feelings in a glowing ball of yellow light and sent them to Draco. She felt as he received them, how the weight dragging him to the floor seemed to lift.

"We should go to sleep," she whispered. "I don't know about you but this has easily been the longest day of my life. I need unconsciousness for a while."

"Alright, I will take the floor." Draco mumbled, moving away from her.

"What if someone comes in and see us? You can't show me any outward kindness, or it could mean beatings for both of us."

"You shouldn't have to sleep on the floor."

"Honestly, Draco, that is the least of my problems." Hermione said with a tone of finality. She moved back to her makeshift den under Draco's comforter.

Just before going to sleep she sent him one last message.

_Thank you._

_Why are you thanking me? _

_For giving me back my hope._


	2. Chapter 2

Draco had still felt guilty about not giving Hermione his bed. He may have been raised to think that mudbloods were useless, but he was still supposed to be a gentleman. Though, admittedly, the idea of him ever being considered a gentleman after what happened the night before was laughable. Eventually he had been able to sleep, but it had been a restless night.

He woke up to screaming.

"DRACO! WAKE UP NOW! Draco, how could you be so careless? What if the Dark Lord had come to check up on you? You gave her clothes! She doesn't get clothes! I don't care if you don't like her, or even if you do. The Dark Lord wants you to treat her like a dog, so you are going to treat her like a bloody dog!"

His mother was beside herself. She took out her wand and flicked it vigorously in Hermione's direction. Suddenly Draco's clothes that she had been given the night before had come to life and they were now trying to rip themselves from her body. Part of his shirtsleeve actually tore as it made a hasty retreat. Then the golden chain that Draco had flung across the room last night flew through the air and attached itself back to her collar. Then the end jerked upwards so that Hermione was forced to stand or be chocked. Only when she was standing on her tiptoes, naked, in front of the Malfoy's, did the chain stop its journey upwards so that she could breath.

_Well, that's one way to wake up. _She said sleepily.

Draco was surprised at her sarcasm and her nonchalance about being woken from what looked like a pleasant sleep to stand naked, choking.

"Mom, what's wrong with giving her clothes. She is my pet after all," Draco used his best whiny voice. "Can't I do what I want with her? I don't want her prancing around naked- it offends me."

_Sorry, Hermione._ She heard through their bond. She was surprised how easily Draco was able to send her messages and still carry on an argument with his mother. She may have been the first to communicate through the bond, but he was quickly beginning to master it.

"The Dark Lord gave her a uniform, and although it makes her look like a harem whore, we don't get a choice. I won't have this little mudblood be the reason that we loose favor with the Dark Lord again. If you disappoint him, or disobey him, then you could become his next 'pet.' I won't let that happen. I just won't!" Narcissa's voice, which had been getting higher and higher as she continued her speech, finally reached full shriek.

Hermione shivered, the room was actually very cold without her clothes or Draco's comforter.

Suddenly her whole body felt like it was being bathed in warmth. She looked at Draco, who was staring at her and concentrating, completely ignoring his mother.

_Don't make it obvious. I can handle a little cold. She can't know we're bonded. _

Hermione was more focused on keeping her airway open than maintaining any sort of modesty. Both of her hands were trying to pull the noose around her neck downward, and her whole body strained trying to get more air.

"Mother, at least let her breath." Draco drawled, "I'm sure the Dark Lord wouldn't be to happy if you killed my pet."

Hermione was amazed at how normal he sounded. If she didn't have this new-formed bond with him, she would have assumed that he really thought she was nothing more than a dog. He really was very good at acting like a snobby entitled prat.

Narcissa lazily flicked her wand, not even bothering to look at Hermione. Suddenly the chain that had been lifting her up went limp, and she stumbled to the floor, barely regaining her footing and avoiding crashing completely to her knees.

_You good?_

_Yea, I'm fine. _

Narcissa spoke again, "now, her training will start today. Once she understands her place then you can ignore her, but unfortunately, the Dark Lord wants you to deal with her. I will help you with the basics today. We can't have another showing like yesterday."

"Mom, I am perfectly capable of training the mudblood on my own."

"Well, so far you have taken her leash off and given her clothes. Not a promising start son." She gave him a pitying look.

"I know you hate this, but you are going to do it anyways, Draco. I will meet you in the breakfast room in 20 minutes. Bring her."

And without ever acknowledging Hermione's existence, she turned and left the room.

* * *

"Hermione, I'm sorry." Draco said, breaking the silence that had permeated the room with his mother's absence.

"It's ok. I know you don't mean it. Survival right?"

He nodded.

"I have a feeling it is only going to get worse from here."

Hermione had never believed that it would get so much worse in such a short period of time. Half an hour later she found herself sitting on the floor by Draco's feet as he ate breakfast. His mother, it seemed, had spent the previous night compiling a list of rules that she had to follow as the "family pet."

There was an enlarged scroll magically floating near Draco's head, and every time Narcissa discussed a new rule it glowed.

1. Pet will always wear a uniform (given to her by the Dark Lord).

2. Pet will follow any command given by any of the Malfoy family.

3. Pet will not speak unless spoken too.

4. Pet will not look anyone in the eye unless otherwise ordered.

5. Pet will kneel by the feet of Draco Malfoy so that she is available to him when he is otherwise occupied.

6. Pet will sleep in Draco Malfoy's bed, with the leash affixed to the headboard to assure no nighttime wanderings.

7. Pet will stay confined to the west wing of the manor unless otherwise ordered.

8. Pet will serve Draco his meals; clean his room, and bathe him nightly.

9. Pet will eat off of the floor the food provided for her by Draco Malfoy.

will maintain good hygiene, and use a contraceptive charm nightly to avoid pregnancy.

will follow all of the above rules or she will be punished.

: denial of food, caging, dungeons, spankings, and orgasm denial.

"This list is ridiculous, Mother." Draco said over a bite of eggs.

_What do you want for breakfast?_ Hermione heard through her link

_Anything, I haven't eaten for two days. _

Malfoy started loading up a plate with eggs, two biscuits, fruit, and three thick slices of bacon. He didn't see an extra fork on the table, so he gave her the one he had been using. He turned to give her the food, when his mother interjected.

"Draco, what are you doing? She doesn't need all of that. And she doesn't get silverware. She is supposed to be a pet, remember!"

"Like I could forget, Mother." He responded, sarcastically, "I can hear her stomach from here, and I don't plan on listening to it all day. Also, I refuse to let her touch my things if her hands smell like eggs. So she gets to use a bloody fork. She is already eating from the floor- that should make the Dark Lord happy."

"Alright, but next time she gets less food. You don't want to spoil her Draco."

"Lets just finish with the bloody rules," Draco replied. "Does she have to sleep in my bed? Can't we just get her a doggie bed or something? "

"No."

"But Mother, I don't want to share my bed," he whined. "Plus, she will be naked- are you sure that I can't give her clothes. What if her shivering annoys me?"

"Well, then share body heat," his mother answered, sounding slightly more exasperated. "Or cast a warming charm, or just sleep through it, Draco. What does it matter if she is cold anyways?"

"I still don't want to."

"Well the Dark Lord wants her in your bed, so she stays in your bed."

_Just let it go, Draco, we can share a bed._ Hermione sent him. She was much more worried about some of the other parts of the list.

_Well, what do you most want to change?_

_I don't like following other people's orders. Yours I can deal with, but what if Lucious orders me to have sex with him. Or what if other death eaters come to the house. Will they be able to hurt me and order me around? _

Draco could feel her anxiety though their bond, and it made him itchy.

"Mother, lets get one thing straight. She is my pet." He reached down to pat her on the head. "I am the only one who gets to touch her. Any death eater that wants to try and give her orders will have to get over it because I don't share." His voice was cold, "and that includes father."

"Alright Draco, I can agree to that. I can't make any promises about the Dark Lord, but I can make it clear to everyone else that she is off limits."

"Ok, then this will work for now. I have better things to do than spend all my time talking about rules."

* * *

Hermione was amazed at how quickly she got over being almost naked all the time. In the week since she had come to the manor, life had grown quite predictable.

She would sleep on the right side of the bed with her left wrist tied to Draco's headboard because she always slept on her stomach. Narcissa had wanted her chained by the neck, but Draco had thrown a fit on her behalf.

She would wake up ever morning before he did. Mornings were her favorite time, because she got use the bathroom, shower, and brush her hair without anyone disturbing her. For those few precious minutes she got to feel normal- almost human.

Draco would get up, and then he would use the bathroom while she moved back into their shared bedroom. While he showered and did whatever else, she tidied up the main room and spent time reading from one of the books on his personal bookshelf.

Hermione hated when they had to leave that secluded sanctuary and venture out to breakfast with the rest of the family. They would walk together to get breakfast, and usually Lucius or Narcissa would be already seated and eating. She hated the way that Lucius stared at her body. Draco at least made an effort to only look at her face, pretending she was actually clothed.

"Mudblood, refill my tea." Lucius would bark.

So Hermione would put her food down and rise from her kneeling position by Draco's feet and walk around the table. She would grab the teapot, which was right in front of Lucius's plate, and poor him another glass of tea while he leered at her backside.

She could always feel Draco tense when his father ordered her around. He really was quite protective, but there was nothing that either of them could do about the current situation except try and eat as quickly as possible.

She found being a "pet" incredibly boring. Mostly she just followed Draco around and sat by his feet, waiting for something to happen. Draco tried to spend a lot of time in his room where Hermione could do whatever she pleased, but his mother had started barging in unexpectedly, so they had to be careful.

Then, exactly a week later, Voldemort returned.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Please **don't read if you don't like MA stories**, especially this chapter. Voldemort has always seemed super creepy to me, and so I wrote him really twisted. No sunshine and rainbows- though I do promise a happy-ish ending. As I am not JK Rowling, I don't own him or any other character.

* * *

Draco hated that bloody leash. The gold chain around Hermione's waist and all of the pretty bangles he liked, but the leash was horrible. What if he tripped while he was holding it? She would be seriously hurt. But because Voldemort himself gave it to Hermione, his mother insisted that it had to stay. So Draco was forced to walk everywhere leading her around like a lost puppy.

They had been having a conversation about the importance of quidditch to wizarding nationality through their bond. He had been surprised how opinionated Granger could be. At school it seemed like all she did was memorize text books and listen to whatever Potter said, but he had been pleasantly surprised to hear that she had disagreed with 'the golden boy' on a few things.

They turned the corner into the dining room when Draco heard his voice.

"I just wanted to come and check up on my new pet." He hissed.

"Shit" Draco muttered.

There was no way to avoid the confutation, so Draco tried to just ignore him.

He sat down like normal, with Hermione kneeling beside him. He started to pile up his plate with food, and then he got a second plate for Hermione, not even bothering to ask what she wanted.

"So, Draco, how is your little mudblood puppy?" The Dark Lord asked, his eyes raking over the two of them.

"Obedient, thank you my lord." Draco replied.

Voldemort's eyes seemed to shine with glee. Draco though he looked quite mad.

"Excellent, excellent! I would like a demonstration of what our little sex pet has learned."

Draco tensed; surely he didn't mean that he wanted to touch Hermione.

"I'm not sure what you mean, my lord." He responded.

"Well, I want to see how she has learned to pleasure you. Lets make it a game," he clapped his hands together. "We will time her. However many minutes it takes for her to make you come is how many times I will whip her later."

"And no cheating, like last time." Voldemort pouted, "I know your mother helped you 'rise to the occasion.'"

Draco could feel Hermione's panic as she sat under the table.

Voldemort swished his wand and a countdown appeared green letters glowing above the center of the table.

"Lets start- Now!"

_Shit!_ said Hermione through their bond.

_Ok, Hermione, we can do this. I just have to cum. _

He reached for his robes, pulling them up so that she could move in between his legs. He unfortunately was not at all aroused; something about forced sex at the dinner table really didn't do it for him.

She looked him in the eye from under the table.

_Draco, I've never done this before. Help!_

Suddenly a bit of lust shot to Draco's cock. She did look kind of cute with her big brown eyes, pleading for him to help her- now he understood why Potter liked to play the hero. It was kind of a turn on.

_Ok, first just touch it. Yea, stroke from the base to the tip. _

She did.

_Good, now with one hand reach down and cup my balls. Ohh, not that , that's p__erfect._

Even with her stroking he was only still half hard.

_We have got to go faster, Draco, what am I doing wrong?_

Typical Granger, Draco thought, she wants to be the best at everything. Even when she is being forced to pleasure me at the dinner table.

_Nothing, love,_ he tried to reassure her. _I just am not exactly inspired by this whole fucked-up situation. _

_Well, pretend you are alone, in your room. Its late, and then, all of the sudden, a beautiful witch bursts into your room, begging you to fuck her. She says, "Please, Draco. I need you so badly." _

Malfoy closed his eyes, laughing, but he allowed himself to be turned on by her voice in his head.

_Just suck on the tip a little bit, please. Oh Merlin!_ He groaned aloud, which caused Hermione to become bolder in her movements under the table. She created a vacuum with her mouth, and bobbed up and down under the table, using her tongue in such a way that Draco couldn't believe that this was her first blowjob. One of her hands was still clutching the base of his cock, and the other was lightly massaging his balls.

She spoke again inside his head_, that's it, Draco. Let it go. Just feel._ Finally, she sent a feeling of pleasure rushing through him by their bond.

He arched almost completely off of the chair at the sensation.

_Shit, Granger. I'm gonna cum. _

_What should I do?_

Before he could respond, he was cuming in her mouth. She coughed a little.

_Don't swallow it_, he sent through the bond. _He will want to see._

"Done" Draco spoke aloud to the room.

"Come here pet." Voldemort ordered.

Hermione stood and walked towards him, trembling slightly.

"Lets see you prize."

She opened her mouth to show him.

He smiled sycophantically.

"Good, now thank your master for your dinner. We will beat you after everyone has finished eating."

Hermione blanched. She had almost forgotten about the punishment part of Voldemort's little 'game.' Walking back over to Draco, she swallowed the cum in her mouth. It tasted slightly bitter, salty, and completely different than Hermione had expected. She couldn't honestly say that it had tasted good, and it certainly wasn't a filling dinner.

"Thank you, Master." She said, returning to her spot by his feet.

He didn't respond aloud, but Hermione heard his voice in her head.

_Bloody sick wanker. _

She didn't know why, but it made her feel better.

* * *

Draco tried to joke with Hermione through their bond, mostly about how he had never expected such a great blowjob from a Gryffindor.

He could tell that Hermione was still nervous, so he tried a different tactic.

_Do you want me to try and do it? _

_What?_

_Well, I could tell Voldemort that I want to beat you because you are my pet. I don't want to, but at least I will try and avoid permanent damage. With him you might not be so lucky?_

_Yes._ She responded meekly through their bond_. I don't want him to touch me._

He used his left hand under the table to pat her once on the shoulder. He didn't know how much it would help her process the whole situation, but it was the only thing he could think to do.

Dinner concluded, and Hermione was still too nervous to be really hungry.

"Now that we have eaten, it's time for the show." Voldemort smiled. "Let's all go down to the dungeons, where I have created a special surprise just for young Mr. Malfoy."

Draco tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. He was still holding onto Hermione's leash as she walked a few feet behind him. Voldemort lead the way as they went down the stairs towards the family dungeons. Draco always hated it down here. He had gotten lost once when he was seven, and somehow trapped himself in the dungeon. It had only taken the house elves ten minutes to find him, but to a small, terrified, seven-year-old, it had seemed like an eternity. He had cried, until Posey, one of his favorite house-elves, had taken him to the kitchen and given him a 'secret' slice of cake. He had done everything he could to avoid the dungeon since then.

Maybe that was why, when Voldemort tapped on one of the bricks near the door, Draco was shocked to see it turn into a handle and expose a new room.

The room was not as dark as the other parts of the dungeon, but rather painted a deep green. All around the room were what looked like torture devices. There was a big X made out of wood and covered with black leather, a bench, a wall that consisted of only chains and manacles at different heights, a cage in one corner, and one side wall that had a disturbing collection of whips, floggers, and other devices that Draco had never seen before.

He felt Hermione's shock through their bond, and he was sure that she could feel his.

_Holy shit._

_Yea,_ she responded dully.

_Well, at least its cozy_. He joked, sarcastically.

He could tell that she wanted to smile at his comment, but she didn't dare.

Voldemort, who had been waiting until all of the Malfoy's entered the room, now turned to Draco.

"When the muggles, mudbloods, and blood traitors have all been put in their proper place, rooms such as these will become common. It does have some special features, designed by me." He lazily brought out his wand and pointed it at Draco.

"Avada Kadavra"

"Noooo" Narcissa shrieked, running towards her son.

_Nooooo _Hermione cried through their bond.

Time seemed to freeze. He closed his eyes as images flashed before him. One stuck out in his mind- Granger, lying on the floor wrapped in his comforter and looking up at him with tearful brown eyes. He realized that now he would never be able to save her.

But nothing happened. No green steak of light, no dead Draco.

_Oh my God!_ Hermione shrieked.

_I'm ok. It's ok. Shit._ He could feel his heart beat beginning to slow as he tried to breath normally.

Voldemort smiled at the panic, and then he explained. "Magic does not work in this room. It is completely cut off the moment that you go through those doors. She," he gestured to Hermione, "is not a witch. She does not deserve the privilege of seeing magic. I would suggest any time you are bored with her that she is sent here. She will stay out of trouble." He continued, smiling, "I have also have equipped the room with some of my favorite toys. In here, the mudblood will be punished for her dirty blood by spilling some of it."

Draco gulped, this didn't sound at all good. He didn't want there to be any blood sheading of any kind.

"And the best part," Voldemort gleamed, " This!" He crossed the room and began cranking on a huge black chain that rose up to the ceiling. Following the chain, Draco saw that it was connected to a king-size black bed with satin sheets covering it. On all four corners of the bed, there were posts with chains where wrist and ankle restraints could be placed.

The bed stopped when it was about three feet off the floor, swaying gently. Draco couldn't even bring himself to look at Hermione, much less his parents. So he just stared at the bed, his face a mask.

_He is basically giving me a sex dungeon, to use with a girl who doesn't want to have sex with me, in front of my bloody parents_, Draco thought. If it weren't all so horribly real, he would have laughed.

"Now that you have seen my gift, what do you have to say Mr. Malfoy?" Voldemort gleefully hissed. "Am I not a caring and generous lord?"

"Yes, sir, thank you." Draco managed to choke out.

"Well, then let us put your pet to good use." Voldemort cheered at the thanks. "Chain her to that wall over there," he pointed casually to the left sidewall that was covered in chains.

Draco gently pulled Hermione over to the side, and turned her so that her front was facing the wall, protecting her face from any punishment that Voldemort chose to inflict. It took him a second to figure out how to properly bind her to the wall, but he managed so that her arms were spread away from her body and she was standing with her bare feet shoulder width apart. He could tell that having her body pressed against the cold wall as well her excess adrenaline was making her small body shiver. He tried to send some sort of feeling of warmth and comfort, but they were probably pretty week. He wasn't feeling at all warm and cheerful at the moment.

"Now, Draco, take off your shirt, and choose a weapon from that wall."

Draco slowly undid his buttons until he was standing there in just his well-tailored, black slacks.

_At least it's me, not him- creepy voyeur._ He sent Hermione through the bond. _Why do I have to take my shirt off? Is this his idea of foreplay? Beating you in front of my parents..._

_Draco, focus. You're rambling._

He walked over to the weapon wall.

_Do you have any idea which of these is the least painful?_ He asked her. He didn't really expect for her to know anything about this stuff. He hadn't done anything like this before, and he wasn't the one who had been a virgin.

_Stay away from the whips, or the ones that have pieces of metal on the end. Whatever you do, don't bring over a cane. Look for something covered in leather or soft fabric, hopefully something shorter. The longer they are the more painful they can be. Also, look for something that will hit me with a greater surface area, so that the force of the blow is spread out._

_What?! Granger, how the fuck do you know that._ He sent back to her.

_I read. It is really basic physics, Malfoy._

_There is a crop made out of leather as well as a small flogger. Ladies choice? _

_The flogger. _

So, Draco picked up the flogger. It had a handle of braded black and green leather, then a tail end with strips of plain leather. It felt almost smooth to the touch.

_If we ever get done with this freak parade, you are going to have to tell me how a virgin know so much about all of this stuff._ He said, idly stroking the flogger.

"Good choice." Voldemort commented. "I would have gone for one of the whips, but I guess you don't want to break your toy the first time you play with her. Very responsible," he chuckled at his own joke. "Now, it took your puppy over six minute at the dinner table earlier, so seven is her lucky number."

"Draco, every time you hit her, instruct her to either count the strokes, or say 'thank you, master"

_There is no way in hell that I thanking you for beating me_. Hermione groaned in his head.

He was glad that she didn't sound too worried. He knew he was worried enough for the both of them. If he didn't hit her hard enough, Voldemort would surely 'show him how it's done.'

"Pet," he said, "count each stroke after I give it to you." He walked over towards her, and brought the flogger back behind him. He brought it down across her left shoulder, watching her body tense.

_Hermione, are you ok._

"One, master."

_I'm fine, just didn't realize you were right behind me. I hate not being able to see. _

_Ok, I'll try and warn you._

He brought his hand up again, this time aiming for her opposite shoulder.

_Now._

"Two, master."

Soon her whole back was crisscrossed with faint pink lines from where the flogger had touched her. Draco felt sick. He tried not to hit her in the same place twice, but she was just so small. Once, Voldemort had not been impressed with the strength of his hit, so he had made Draco repeat that one.

Finally, he had one last hit that landed right across the small of her back.

"Seven, master."

"Well, lets make it an even ten, shall we? Do the last three right across her ass." Voldemort made his command sound conversational, as if they were back upstairs having dinner and he had asked Draco to pass the salt. Draco, on the other hand, felt almost as nauseous as he had the first night that Voldemort had made him and Granger his playthings.

_Just get it over with_, Hermione said through the bond. She didn't sound nearly as bad as he felt.

He made the last three blows as fast as he could, one right after another. He could hear Hermione yelping out "Eight, master, nine, master, ten, master," but his ears had filled with a sort of wringing that was fogging his mind.

He turned back to Voldemort. "Good job, Draco, the most important part of keeping a pet is discipline. They have to know their place. I expect you to do this regularly." He lectured. "Why don't we leave her down here for a little bit, you can come get her again when it's time for bed." Draco just stood there in a daze, hoping that this evening was finally over.

With that, Voldemort placed his hand on Draco's shoulder, patting him as if to congratulate Draco for his accomplishment. Together they left the room, as the elder Malfoys trailed meekly behind.

* * *

Once they had all left, the door sealed itself, and Hermione was left in the pitch black. At first she was just relieved. It truly hadn't been that bad. She had been expecting something along the lines of the torture she had received at the hand of Belatrix. She was amazed that the evening had ended without a single cruciatus curse, or more foul words being carved into her skin (the mudblood on her arm had just started to heal properly.)

After about two minutes of relief she realized how quiet it was in the dungeon. She was so cold, and she could hear the chains anchoring her to the wall as her body trembled. She could hear her heartbeat. Her breathing sounded amplified as it reverberated off of the walls. Her shoulders were starting to cramp from being held at an angle.

_What if they forgot about her? What if Draco had to leave the manor, and she was stuck in this basement, chained to the wall? _ The silence was maddening. She knew she shouldn't talk to Draco through their bond because he might still be in Voldemort's presence, but she just felt so alone.

_Draco_, she whispered.

_I'm so sorry Hermione. He is almost gone. I will be there soon. _

She relaxed as rational thought returned to her. Draco wouldn't leave her. She focused on her breath, moving air in and out until finally she felt calmer, even if she was still cold.

Draco listened as Voldemort droned on about his plans to place people in the ministry, as well as his orders for Lucius to write a letter to Snape about the methods of discipline used at Hogwarts. He knew that he should be listening more closely, trying to hear something that would help Hermione escape, but he couldn't bring his mind to function normally. He felt like his brain had shut down at the horror of what he had done in the dungeon. Hermione's voice had sounded so weak and afraid when she had called out to him, but he was unable to give anything other than a short reply- his brain just couldn't focus.

Finally, Voldemort strode out into the night, giving one last goodbye look to Draco.

"Honestly," Narcissa Malfoy huffed as soon as they were alone, "I don't understand his fascination with you and the mudblood girl. And why he makes the whole family watch." She shook her head. Lucius said nothing.

"I'm going to take her down from the wall; I do not wish to be disturbed untill morning," Draco commanded. With that, he turned from his parents and went back down to the dungeon.

By the time that he made it down the steps, it seemed that his fog-covered brain had finally cleared. He stopped at the entrance to the secret room. What if Hermione couldn't stand him anymore? He certainly wouldn't blame her if she cursed him for eternity. He had beaten her; he had chained her to a wall. Tears slid silently down his face. He hated this life.

Figuring that he should just get this over with, he walked into the room and went to unchain her from the wall. He couldn't seem to stop the tears, especially as she tensed, and rolled her shoulders, trying to regain feeling in her hands. As she turned around, he couldn't look her in the eye.

"Hey, Draco, what's wrong?" she asked. Her voice bounced through the quiet room, but he still couldn't look at her.

"It's ok." She touched his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He guessed that she could feel his self-disgust through their connection. Draco moved away from her hand.

"How can you touch me?" He croaked, still keeping his head bowed.

"Here," she lead him over to the swinging bed. "Just sit down."

_Relax, Draco,_ she soothed through the bond.

"I thought it was going to be so much worse. Really, my back barely hurts anymore. I will be a little sore tomorrow, but there was no blood."

"Is that really supposed to make me feel better," he scowled, "am I supposed to take comfort in the fact that I didn't permanently scar you?"

He finally lifted his head, "Hermione you were chained to a wall while I hit you. How can you even look at me?"

_Because it's not your fault,_ she answered. _I know you don't want to hurt me. I know you hate it. But, Draco, it's over. I'm fine._

He felt her hand try and reach out to touch him again, and this time he didn't shrug her off. Some part of his mind registered that he still hadn't put his shirt back on from when Voldemort had ordered him to take it off, but since she was completely naked, he didn't comment.

_I think tonight was worse for you than it was for me. Just try and breathe. _She pushed him back so that he was lying sideways on the bed with his knees and feet dangling over the edge. She grabbed a pillow and handed it to him. He hugged it to his chest, burying his face in it. Her hand had moved from his shoulder to his back, rubbing in small circles like a mother trying to comfort a crying child. He couldn't remember the last time he had been comforted like that, if he had ever been.

"Thank you." His voice still sounded choked up.

_Shhhhh, it's ok. We made it. We are going to be fine._ She soothed. Then she started to hum through their bond. It was an odd sound, more ethereal than regular humming, and at first Draco thought he was imagining things. Then words were added.

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li. _

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now don't you cry._

_Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmm. Hmmm._

She kept rubbing the small circles in his back and humming. All of the tension seemed to flow out of him. As she sang, he concentrated on nothing more than her voice in his head. After what seemed like only a few verses, he fell suddenly into dreamless sleep.

Hermione watched Draco as he hugged the pillow tight against him, seeking comfort from it. She had been shocked at how affected he was by the evening. Wasn't their pact 'survive, no matter what'? She knew he hated it, but she didn't know his reaction would be so visceral. She smiled at her unlikely protector, glad that he had finally calmed down. She pulled one of the blankets up over herself, more because of the residual cold than a desire for modesty, and fell into sleep right beside him.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey guys- if you have made it this far, my scary bold warnings are not gonna stop you, so read on!

Also, its my birthday- so I threw in a little extra fluff!

* * *

The grumbling was what woke them both up. The noise sounded like whale calls, and resonated around the dungeon room. Somehow Draco had ended up on his back with one arm draped around the pillow he had been hugging. His other arm was pinned under Hermione, who had turned sideways to cuddle in towards him, draping her right arm across his chest. The blanket had mostly fallen down, and he could still see the faint pink lines running across her back. The visual brought him sharply back to the present, and then he heard the sound again; it was coming from Hermione's stomach.

"Hungry?" he chuckled.

She woke slowly, "yea, well I didn't have dinner." This caused both her and Draco to blush slightly at the memory of the dinner game.

"One second," he said, rising from the bed. He walked out to the entrance to the room and then called, "Posey."

With a small pop, the house elf materialized to his left.  
"Get me some sandwiches and some dessert. Also bring me some salve for cuts and bruises."

"Yes sir," she bowed, and with another pop she was gone. Then a tray materialized bursting with ham sandwiches, strawberries and a bowl of cream for dessert. There were also some butterbeer in a container of ice, as well as a bottle of sticky-looking, red liquid being cooled. Draco carried the tray back in, and set it down on the bed. Hermione had managed to pull a sheet completely around her, wrapping it like a loose toga, so that her arms were free to grab a sandwich.

She bit into one of the ham ones, and then groaned in pleasure.

"Soo, good," she said around bits of ham and bread.

He laughed, opening a butterbeer. "Here, wash it down with this," he handed the bottle to her. "I don't want you to choke."

"Mmmm" was her only response.

He picked up one of the strawberries and dipped it in cream. This had always been one of his favorite desserts as a boy because it was almost like playing with your food. Eating with his parents, every meal had been a lesson in proper etiquette- it had been stiflingly dull.

He spotted his shirt where he had cast it aside on the floor- the dark purple was one of his favorites. He went to pick it up.

"Don't," said Hermione. "I mean," she blushed slightly. "It doesn't seem as bad- being naked- when you are sort-of too." She smiled, "almost like a slumber party."

"What's a slumber party?" He ignored her blush. After everything they had been through this evening, he didn't want to make her more self conscious. He was still amazed that she could even look at him without screaming.

"It's a muggle tradition, mostly for girls. We tell secrets, play truth-or-dare, and have pillow fights." She laughed, "actually, I can't see you as a slumber-party guy."

"Well if it has lots of girls and very little clothing, its sounds like something I would enjoy," Malfoy quipped. "What's truth or dare?" He settled himself back on the bed and reaching for another strawberry. His shirt had been forgotten on the floor.

"Usually you go around in a circle, players ask each other to pick truth or dare. If you choose truth, then you have to answer any question truthfully. If you pick dare, then you have to do one 'dare', which is usually to stick your foot in a toilet or to kiss a boy. I am surprised wizards don't have that game."

"You mean if you choose 'dare' you have to do whatever someone says? What if you don't want to?"

"Then you are ridiculed by the group," Hermione laughed. "Really, nothing ever happens. Usually it just turns into girls gossiping about boys they want to kiss, and which of their friends is the prettiest." She smiled, "I used to go to sleepovers with my muggle friends when I was home for the summer holiday. We would braid hair and eat lots of ice cream."

"Not strawberries?" He held dipped another one in cream for her and held it out. Instead of taking it in her hand, she just leaned forward and bit down.

"Mmmmm," she licked her lips and wiped the juice from her chin. "Those are delicious."

"Every summer I just roamed these halls. Once, between first and second year, I barricaded myself in the east wing. I wouldn't let anyone in except for Pokey, and she was only allowed to bring me food. I didn't see my parents for almost three weeks." He chuckled, "I didn't have to eat with my mouth closed, or say 'yes, sir' – it was brilliant. Though, I do admit my hygiene suffered."

"Didn't you get lonely?"

"Not really, I spent a lot of time reading, and flying my broom around the halls! It was fun until my mother hosted a dinner party and I was forced to be a Malfoy again."

"What about friends? Who did you play quidditch with, or run through the halls?"

"A Malfoy doesn't need friends." Draco imitated his father, and then he shrugged. "Don't feel sorry for me, Granger. I don't need or deserve your pity."

"I don't feel sorry for you. I feel sorry for the little boy you were, growing up in such a big house with no one to go exploring with. Every kid should have at least one friend."

She sighed. "When do we have to go back to the real world upstairs?"

"Tomorrow."

"Well then tonight, lets have a slumber party." She burst out laughing at the look on his face, like he would rather eat boubotuba puss.

"It will be fun," she laughed. "First, we will build a fort, it should be easy enough with all of these chains on the walls."

Setting the half-eaten tray of food aside, she walked over his discarded shirt and slipped it on, abandoning the sheet she had been using.

"Ok, so we are going to use the sheets to make a fort. Here, she gestured to one corner of the sheet she hand just been wearing. Tie this end to that chain there."

About twenty minutes, three sheets and blankets, and four cuss words (all muttered by Draco) later, they had constructed the fort. Hermione had decided to use some of the chains as well as one of the whips for support, giving the tent a slightly creepy vibe according to Draco, but she loved it.

"Now if we were muggles, we would crawl into the tent, turn on a flashlight, and tell each other scary stories about monsters and goblins." She laughed, "but we don't have any flashlights, and I always hated scary stories, so we will have to do something else instead."

Draco had never seen this side of Hermione, so carefree and happy. She wasn't being little-miss-know-it-all, or scared to death of being tortured. He wondered idly if this was what she was like all the time around her friends. He was getting ready to follow her into the 'fort' when he almost tripped over the discarded food tray she had placed on the floor earlier. He grabbed two more butterbeers and the salve from the ice and went to join her.

"How about instead of scary stories, I put some of this on your back," he waved the vial in his hand.

"Draco, my back hardly hurts anymore," she pouted.

He smiled, "how about I tell you a scary story while I am putting it on."

"Alright, but not a scary story. How about a bedtime story- one your mum used to tell you when you were little."

"Does my mother really look like the type to tell bedtime stories?" He uncorked the salve potion and turned to grab the butterbeers. When he turned around he saw that she was lying on her stomach with his shirt pulled down so that her back was fully exposed.

"Alright, then tell me your favorite story," she said, propping her head up under her arms.

"Once upon a time, there was a fierce dragon. He was big and strong, and he ruled the skies…" Draco, continued, only half paying attention to the words from one of his favorite storybooks. He had poured the red liquid on Hermione's back, and was now using both hands to rub the tonic into her skin completely. He had never noticed how soft her skin was. He could feel the slight ridges from where the crop had scratched her skin, but as the red was absorbed, her skin returned to its perfect unmarred state.

"Mmmmm, that feels nice."

He kept going, telling her the story of his favorite dragon as he rubbed the remaining liquid into her skin.

"And the dragon and the lady lived happily ever after… the end."

Hermione pushed herself into an upright position, resettling his shirt around her shoulders.

"Lets play truth or dare now. Just for a few questions." She looked so hopeful that he wouldn't dream of denying her.

"Alright, you go first."

"Truth."

"I can ask you anything?"

"Yes- your turn, truth or dare."

"Wait, that wasn't my question."

"Sorry, only one question per turn," she quipped, sounding like the little braniac that had always annoyed him in potions. He scowled.

"Truth," he finally replied.

"What was the nickname that you said you sometimes call me?"

Draco blushed slightly. "Gryffindor Princess," he mumbled.

She laughed, "my dad used to call me his little princess. It sounds slightly different coming from you."

"Truth or dare, princess?"

"Truth."

"Did you ever come close to having sex?"

"Not really. The closest I ever was came with Krum, our fourth year."

"Really? You and Potty never…?"

"No," she hit him playfully, "we have never done anything- just friends."

"Or he's just a coward," Draco scoffed. "I pick dare."

"Hmmmm, next time we see your father, you have to ask him if his hair is real, or just a wig."

"It's real. I used to have to brush it when I was little."

For some reason, Hermione found this hilariously funny. She clutched at her side, causing his shirt to ride up higher on her legs. Draco couldn't help but stare.

"Did you just check me out," she said suddenly.

He colored.

"Seriously, I parade around your house more than half-naked all week, and this," she motioned to her newly exposed legs, "turns you on?"

"Wha? Come on, Granger, you were not turning me on," he lied.

"Liar," she whispered.

_I can always tell when you're lying. _She smiled sweetly at him.

"Truth or dare, Hermione." He said, desperate to change the subject.

"Truth, but you are not off the hook that easily."

"How do you know so much about whips and floggers?"

Her face instantly changed to bright red, and she mumbled something to herself.

"What was that?" Draco asked, enjoying teasing her.

"I…read…about it. Mostly in muggle romance novels."

He laughed. "Hey, I don't just read textbooks!" Hermione said defensively.

"That's hilarious! Not only does the 'Gryffindor princess' read romance books- she reads kinky ones!" He relaxed even more, "I never knew you had it in you."

Hermione couldn't respond, so she just blushed harder.

"Now I want to hear a story. C'mon, which one was your favorite?"

"No way, I am not ever telling you."

"C'mon Granger."

"No, don't call me Granger."

"Hermione," he said sweetly reaching for her hand, "will you please, tell me, a dirty story."

She hesitated.

"Still no," she answered, "at least not right now. It feels too weird. Maybe some other time."

"I will wear you down," he promised. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, right at the moment that she had taken a sip of her butterbeer. When she saw the motion, she choked and spit her butterbeer all over him, with most of it landing on his chest.

"Sorry," she said, still chuckling.

"No your not," he smiled, and then thought of another retort.

_I can tell when you're lying too!_

* * *

After they had taken down the fort and placed the remaining food outside the door for a house elf to clean up, Hermione decided that they needed to talk.

"Draco, I think we need to explore this room a little more."

He looked at her in surprise. "Kinky," he joked.

"You know that's not what I mean. I think we need to know what is in here so that we can be prepared for the next time 'our favorite pervert' decides to come for a visit."

She could feel Draco's hesitation through their bond.

_I will feel better if I know what's going to happen._

_We don't know that he will make us come down here again._

She just gave him a look that seemed to say 'get real.'

She knew that she was asking a lot; he hated this room.

_Please, Draco._

"Alright, Hermione, enough with the bond-guilt-trips."

"Thank you," she accepted graciously.

They decided to start with the weapons wall, as Draco called it. She pointed out the ones that would hurt the most, and which ones would be ok. Several of them had little bits of metal attached to the ends, and Hermione shivered, saying that those were old muggle weapons used to flay the skin off of the backs of slaves. Draco silently promised himself that he would never use any of those on her.

He pointed to a metal handle that was connected to a wheel with little spikes. "What the heck is this?" He ran the spikes over his hand; it didn't hurt, just felt like little pinpricks.

"Here," Hermione held out her hand, "It's a Wartenberg wheel. It was originally designed by muggle doctors to test neural sensitivities, but…" she blushed again.

Taking the wheel, she ran the spiked edge in a circle around his pectoral, edging closer to his nipple. Draco sucked in a breath.

"I get the picture," he choked, pulling the wheel from her hand and placing it back on the wall.

"That means he is not just interested in having you whip me." Hermione responded dryly.

"Although, you may want to practice using a whip. I would rather the first time you try and hit a target that it not be me."

Draco felt sick, "Hermione, I don't know if I can do that."

"Ok," she conceded, feeling his anxiety through the bond, "lets just keep going."

Next they came to wall with different manacles at all different heights. In one corner there was a small chest. Hermione opened it, and found a collection of ropes and spreader bars. Could be worse, she thought to herself.

Draco moved to look over her shoulder. "Pervy little freak, I bet he can't even get it up," he muttered.

"Probably not," she agreed, "lets move on."

The third wall had a large leather cross, a weird looking pointed bench, and a cage. Draco could feel Hermione tense as she looked at the cage; it was incredibly small. "I wouldn't put a dog in this thing, much less a human being."

"I hate being cramped," she admitted. "I really don't mind being tied up, but I can't stand small spaces."

"Good to know," he smirked, causing her to blush.

"What is that?" he pointed to the bench.

"I don't really know, but I can guess what it is used for," she replied. She leaned over the side, so that he backside was thrust up into the air, and the rest of her body was draped over the other side of the bench. She did have quite a nice backside.

"Nice ass, Granger," he imitated the scowl that he had often used when they had been at Hogwarts.

"Thanks, Malfoy," she quipped back. Hermione would have never thought that she would be joking with Draco Malfoy, about her ass nonetheless. It was almost like they were becoming friends. Heck, she thought, they had even had a slumber party- all they needed now was matching BFF bracelets to make it official.

Draco had never noticed how Hermione seemed to have conversations with herself. There would be moment during the day when she would scowl or chuckle under her breath at absolutely nothing. He had finally figured out that she was making herself laugh, and he thought it was kind of adorable. He often wondered what she was thinking about, so he decided to ask her.

"What were you thinking, just then?"

She paused, "I was thinking that its weird, but we are sort of friends."

"Yea," he agreed, reflecting. "It is weird."

"I'm glad though," she said.

He met her eyes, thinking about how odd it was that she was standing, smiling at him, and wearing nothing but his shirt.

He smiled, "now, Granger, no need to get all mushy on me."

She laughed, "you know you always call me Granger when you are teasing me. My name is Hermione, remember."

"Well its either Granger or Princess, but princess sounds much more like an endearment than it did when I was mocking you in the Slytherin common room."

She just laughed harder; "I guess I will have to accept Granger then. I think that is everything in the room."

"Not quite, princess," Draco said, gesturing to the final wall. This one contained the concealed door, as well as a huge erotic abstract painting of a body being suspended by two chains. The painting was so huge that Hermione had missed the wide dresser that was right beneath it.

They both walked apprehensively towards the dresser, and Hermione pulled the first draw open. The inside was lined with red velvet. On the left was a collection of clamps with various tassels, jewels, and bells dangling from each. On the right, two different collars were laid out. One was thick leather, but the other was a delicate silver chain that had a small padlock on the front. In the center of the padlock was a large green emerald. Hermione's hand reached out to touch it.

"It almost looks like a regular necklace," she said wistfully.

Draco felt awkward, like he was watching some private, girl moment. He guessed that Hermione hadn't spent a lot of time thinking about beautiful things while at the manor.

She withdrew her hand. "And those are nipple clamps," she pointed to the clips.

"Those I have seen before," he said, closing the first drawer and opening the one below it. Inside was an impressive and extensive collection of sex toys- vibrators, dildos, even what Draco suspected were butt plugs. They looked slightly different than the ones that Draco had seen before, but he guessed these were the muggle versions.

Hermione flushed red, closing the drawer.

"Wait, we should go through those. Are you sure that you don't want to pick your favorite?" He teased.

She just opened the final drawer. Inside this one there was four sets of handcuffs, as well as several different size ball gags. Draco picked one up, turning it over in his hands. "I could use this when you annoy me- shut you up."

She rolled her eyes.

_I would just annoy you through the bond, idiot. So don't even think about it. _

_C'mon, Granger, I thought this turned you on._ He teased.

To his surprise, she didn't come back with a witty retort, but blushed.

_No comment?_ He teased.

_Nope._

He put the gag back in the drawer and closed it.

"Well that concludes our tour of the creepy-dungeon-sex-room."

"At least there were no knives. Unless he wants you to beat me to death, I don't think he wants me dead just yet."

"Hey, don't think like that." He said, "We are going to make it out of this. We just have to bide our time until we can come make a smart move."

She smiled. "Can we spend the night in here? It is really uncomfortable sleeping tied to a headboard."

"Sure," he answered.

* * *

"Alright," she moved to blow out some of the candles, and then they both made their way to the bed.

Draco suddenly felt nervous, she wasn't being forced to sleep in his bed, but that was really the only comfortable surface in the room.

"I'll sleep on the floor," he offered.

"Don't be silly," she said, climbing into the bed, causing it to rock slowly.

He climbed in on the other side.

"I do like this bed," she commented after a few seconds of silence. "I always wanted to sleep in a hammock when I was a kid, and this is sort of the grown-up version."

He decided not to ask her what a 'hammock' was.

"Goodnight, Draco," she yawned, turning to face him. She was asleep almost instantly.

Draco laid awake for a lot longer, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't know why he was so conflicted; he had never been great at expressing his feelings- even to himself. Something about Hermione was different. She was funny, and smart… _and kind of kinky_ said a small voice in the back of his brain. _She gives great blowjobs_, the voice continued, flashing images of her traipsing around in his shirt. He shook his head to clear the internal projection. Hermione muttered something unintelligible in her sleep then moved closer to him, throwing her arm across his chest. Draco sighed as his body naturally curved around hers. He would think about his feelings in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

_Mmmmmm…_

Hermione was having a fantastic dream. Her lover, a mix of her favorite characters from different romance novels, was curled protectively around her. He was licking at the soft spot just below her ear, making her want to groan aloud.

She brought her hands up to caress his chest, slowly moving her arms around his neck. She ran her fingers though his silky hair, and all of the sudden her hand got stuck. Her dream man was now nuzzling the spot at the base of her neck, and she could feel one of his hands slowly traveling up the outside of her leg. Why were her hands sticky?

_Mmmmm…_

Wait; there really was someone on top of her. She woke up slowly, for some reason she still felt safe. Sure enough, Malfoy was on top of her. Her hands were stuck in his leftover hair gel.

_Draco…?_

_Hmmmmm?_

_Draco, wake up._

_Mmmm. Five more minutes, Mom. _

_DRACO! _

"Huh?" He opened his eyes, and Hermione watched as reality came crashing down on him. He immediately rolled off of her. "Sorry," he squeaked.

She covered her mouth, trying hard not to laugh, and failing. She burst into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

"That's it, Granger, mock my pain," he groaned. "Well, that was new and different?"

She was still giggling, the stupid girl. But somehow it made him smile. He had hated it when Pansy would giggle, but when Hermione did it, it was endearing.

"Laugh it up. I am really uncomfortable." He gestured to the unmistakable bulge in the front of his pants. "And my mother is probably worried about us all alone down here."

"Ugh, I don't want to go back upstairs. I'm sorry I laughed at you. Five more minutes." She chuckled at her own joke.

"C'mon, Granger, lets go. Plus I'm hungry."

"I guess I have to give you your shirt back," she said, casually unbuttoning it and holding it out to him. Even though it was an awful striptease, Draco still felt a tightening in his trousers as she stood naked in front of him.

"Hey, eyes front soldier." She snapped her fingers, "focus, Malfoy."

"yea, well, your naked." He grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, princess. Breakfast time."

Together, they left the dungeon room, both significantly happier than when they had first entered it.

* * *

The lighthearted happiness Hermione had felt waking up didn't last very long. In the hallway stood Fenrir Greyback.

"Hello pretty," he crooned. His eyes were fixed on Hermione as he stalked towards the pair.

"Such a lovely pet." He towered over them. "If you ever want to feel what it's like to be with a real man, lovely," he said, stroking one dirty finger across Hermione's cheek, "I'm available."

"Get your disgusting paws off my property, or I will cut them off myself," Draco threatened.

He removed his hand, but it seemed that he wasn't through speaking. "Just you wait, lovely, I will claim you soon. Pretty mudblood. Such smooth skin. So delicious." He licked his lips, and then stalked away.

_I'm so sorry he touched you. _

_Can we just go to your room? I need to wash his stench off of me._ Hermione replied, feeling slightly nauseous.

_Yea, I'm not hungry anymore._

_You need to be more careful_, she scolded him_. I don't think he particularly cares about hurting you to get to me. You need to watch your back, Draco._

_Yea, what else is new?_ He thought somberly.

They returned to his room, and Draco ordered a house elf to inform his mother that he would not be a breakfast this morning.

Hermione was soaking in the tub trying to forget about Greyback, when she had a notion. She and Draco needed to practice more with their bond. They had both gotten very good at sending messages and feelings when they were in close proximity, but they hadn't really tried much else. Hermione remembered reading about how newly bonded aurors would train for weeks to strengthen the bond, or else they risked it souring.

_Draco_, she called.

_What?_

_I think we need to work on communicating when we can't see each other. It is supposed to be harder over longer distances. Does my voice sound different?_

_It is a little quieter, but not really all that different. _

_Ok, I want you to focus on my voice, and try and trace the thread of my message back to me. Supposedly this can help us find each other if we are separated, even if one of us is unconscious. _

_I think I feel a pull in a general direction, but it may just be that I know that you are in the bathroom. Wait a second_, he moved out of his bedroom and down a hallway.

_Ok, where am I?_

It was the strangest sensation. Draco could almost feel her eyes searching for him, and then he felt a tickling sensation in the center of his head. His vision changed, and he saw small hands skimming over the top of the bathwater. The left hand moved up and swirled lazily around a nipple that was peaking out of the water. Two knees were also seen over the surface, and he could just see the outline of a waist and belly button through the murky water and bubbles.

_Granger, what is going on? I can see you in the bath. _

_What? _

_Yea, you may want to look at something other than the water._

The vision shifted up to the ceiling.

_I was just trying to find you. I think you are somewhere to my northeast, but I have never heard of shared vision through bonding. _

She stopped trying to find him, and his vision went back to normal. _Well, that was disconcerting, but it could be useful_, he thought.

_You try. I want to see if it works the other way_.

So Draco traced the invisible thread of her "voice." He imagined a fine silk thread, almost like a spider's web, curving slightly in the breeze. It was malleable but unbreakable. Finally, he envisioned the thread connecting up to her, and he tried to see the world through her eyes.

_Wow, you are in the hallway, staring at that ugly portrait. _

_Hey, that's my great aunt Mildred Malfoy you are calling ugly, _he said in mock outrage.

_That is incredibly interesting. I wonder why it is reverse. It would make more sense for me to be able to see you when I reach out to you, not when you reach out to me. _

_Well, if you are in danger and making a distress call, it makes more sense for me to be able to see what you see than vice versa,_ he reasoned.

_Plus,_ she added, almost as an afterthought, _it would be a little bit creepy if I could just see through your eyes whenever I wanted- its an invasion of privacy. This way, I only see what you want me to._

_Can I come back to my room now? _

_Yea. I wish I knew more about bonds._ She sounded frustrated. _I hate not being able to do research. _

He couldn't help but laugh- typical Granger, always wanting to go to the library. Then he had a notion, smiling to himself.

He returned to his room just in time to see her emerge from the bathroom.

"I have a surprise for you." He said giddily, practically bouncing.

"Draco, what's going on?"

"C'mon princess," he said, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the room, forgetting her 'leash' on the bed.

* * *

He tugged her down so many long hallways that Hermione was thoroughly lost. She had never realized how big Malfoy manor actually was. There must be some sort of engorgement charm on entire building because it certainly had not looked this vast from the outside.

Finally, Draco stopped in front of a large set of double doors made with an ornate gold lion handle. She smiled,

_I like the Gryffindor décor_. She teased.

_I think you are going to like this even more. Close your eyes. _

She obeyed. He moved pulled her through one of the doors, then spun her around three times. He moved behind, placing both of his hands over her eyelids.

_Ready to open them? Three… two…. one._ He pulled his hands away from her face.

Her eyes opened, adjusting to the bright light, and her jaw dropped.

She was standing in the most gorgeous library that she had ever seen. There were huge oak bookshelves that stretched up three stories at least. There were huge ladders all around, some leading up to books, others leading to walkways, and still others leading to little reading nooks cut out from the bookshelves- large enough for an entire sofa with a small end table. One nook even had an ornate desk situated about half-way up. It made Hermione feel like a mouse that could weave in and out of the gigantic shelves and crannies. There were also periodic spaces where the bookshelves moved around a painting or a window. The entire ceiling was one huge window, which let plenty of light in, making the whole space seem cheerful. It was the exact opposite of the dark and dreary manor. This library was cheerful and delightfully quirky. She had never seen a library like it, certainly not a muggle one. The proportions alone gave the space an aura of magic. Hermione spun around, still unable to speak, trying to absorb every amazing detail of the room. She turned to Draco and saw that he was looking at her with a huge grin on his face.

_Do you like it?_

Instead of responding, she just threw her arms around him, holding him tight.

He chuckled; _I thought you would like it. Though I didn't know you would be this excited._ He returned her hug, wrapping his arms around her waist and giving her a squeeze. They finally broke apart.

_You want to see my favorite place? _

She nodded.

He walked over to one of the tallest ladders and began to climb. This ladder lead all the way up to the very top of the bookshelf, and there was a gap about a meter tall between the top of the bookcase and the glass ceiling. He crouched down and waited for Hermione to reach the top as well. Then he led her, walking carefully along the top of the bookcase until he reached the corner. He then descended a "secret staircase" off of the back of the bookcase. It led to a room that was made almost completely of glass, overlooking the entire grounds of the Malfoy manor.

He crossed the room and opened one of the windows in the glass room, letting in the breeze.

_It's almost like you are in a bubble, floating above the world._ He told her_. I would always come up here when I wanted to hide out from my parents. I think they have forgotten this room exists. _

Hermione still hadn't said anything, but she walked around the room, looking around with the same awed look that he had seen when she first saw the library. She crossed over to the corner of the room, were there was a drawing desk and easel. Draco hadn't been up here to paint in years, and he had forgotten how much he missed it. Being servant to the Dark Lord didn't really leave much time for hobbies.

_Is this yours? _She pointed to the half finished painting on the easel. It was an abstract painting of the manor grounds at sunset.

_Yea. _

_I didn't know you painted._

_I don't much anymore. _

She studied the canvas;_ this is really good. I do not know very much about magical methods of painting, other than portraits. _She paused_, but this is really beautiful._

_Thanks. _

_It reminds me of Monet_, she said almost offhand, and then hesitated_. Sorry, muggle painter. _

_Yes, famous for painting water lilies. I know Monet, but of all the impressionist painters I prefer Degas. His use of color as well as his understating of the female form is breathtaking. Plus, I would choose to look at women over ponds any day. _

Hermione stopped staring at the painting and instead stared at him. It was almost like he had grown another head.

_My great aunt Mildred, the one you called ugly, always used to say, "Art is the only thing muggles are any good at." We used to go on secret trips to muggle London and visit art museums. I could never tell my parents, which is why I painted up here. Then once I got a little bit better at magic, I started coming up with ways to use it in my paintings. _

They stood in silence for a few more minutes, both enjoying the morning sunshine, lost in their own thoughts. Draco hardly noticed when Hermione edged closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

She spent the rest of the morning exploring the library, winding through the mazes of ladders and secret doors. She loved that this room was not the prim, orderly, and grandiose style of the rest of the manor. The organizational structure of the books was one she had never seen before. When she asked Draco about it, he said that the room had been designed by his great-great-great-great-grandfather- who was admittedly a bit kooky. He designed the room, and then placed a charm that didn't allow the architecture to be altered. To this day, none of the Malfoys understood how the books were organized.

She did manage to find a few books on bonds, including a memoir of an auror who had experienced a red- love bond with his partner (even though both men considered themselves straight at the time). She set the books in a pile, while Draco positioned himself in one of the reading nooks about halfway up the bookcase. She was just wandering, letting her hand skim down the spines of the different volumes, when a small red book caught her eye.

* * *

Draco was hungry. Apparently meeting with Greyback was enough to put him off his breakfast, but not his lunch, and he didn't want to drag Hermione away from something she was obviously enjoying.

"Posey"

"Yes, master Draco. How can Posey be of assistance?"

"I would like to eat lunch in the library today. Make sure there is enough for myself and Miss Granger."

"Yes, sir!"

Just as Posey had brought him food, Hermione came back to him clutching a small red book to her chest. She also looked incredibly embarrassed and apprehensive.

_What's that?_ He nodded his head to indicate the book she was hugging. He could practically hear her internal sigh, as if she was bracing herself.

_Draco, I want you to keep an open mind. Remember what you promised- we survive- no. matter. what. _

She handed him the book. At this point she was as red as the cover. He glanced down, seeing the title written in curved silver script.

BECOMING HER MASTER.

He looked back at Hermione in shock.

_You brought me a sex book? _

_Well, we are probably going to have to 'preform' again in front of Voldemort. It makes sense to know as much about the subject as possible, so that we can convince him we are legitimate. I know you hate all of that stuff, but maybe if you knew a little bit more about it, you wouldn't feel as bad the next time we have to go down there._

She said all of this very fast, as though she though she was going to chicken out.

_You have done everything you possibly can for me. I never thought when Harry and Ron dissapperated without me that I would even be alive right now. I want you to stop feeling guilty, Draco. You can read the book or you can put it back, but I do think that it will help._

_Ok. I'll read it._

She smiled, and Draco knew he had made the right decision. So they spent the afternoon, in Draco's favorite glass bubble, each reading their own books and enjoying the breeze.

Draco had learned a lot from the book. It was a work of fiction, but the sex scenes were really intense. Mostly, it talked about the difference between abuse and domination. Sometimes, the man seemed like a pompous asshole, but Draco knew that some people considered him a pompous asshole. Hermione was right; he did feel better for reading it. At least the next time Voldemort wanted them to be kinky- he had a better understanding of the role he was supposed to fill.

And it made Hermione more comfortable, which was the most important part.

* * *

Soon, a month had passed in the manor. Hermione was beginning to feel antsy. She knew that Voldemort would be coming back soon, and she hated waiting for the pin to drop. The anticipation was making her sick. She kept picturing different scenarios, each one was worse than the previous. Now she was convinced that nothing Voldemort would make them do could be any worse than the things she had been picturing. She also knew that her anxious state was causing Draco to worry. He had started coming up behind her and rubbing the knot in her shoulders, claiming that if she was anxious it kept him from sleeping. He said it felt like he had spiders trying to crawl into his brain through their bond, which was rather itchy. Sometimes she didn't like how he could always tell what she was feeling.

Not a lot had changed between them in the last month. They had worked on exploring the bond, thanks to Hermione's readings. She discovered that a side effect of being bonded was that it was almost impossible for anyone to use legilimency on either of them, which Draco was extremely excited about. He had worked on occlumency for years with his Aunt, but Hermione didn't have any training. After some practice, it wasn't very hard for either of them to 'call' the other, and they could now communicate no matter the distance between them. Draco had even tested it by leaving her at the manor one afternoon while he disapperated to a small wizarding village in Switzerland that his family had visited a few years ago. Their connection seemed to be just as strong there as it was when he was standing right next to her. However, Hermione wasn't able to test it as much as she wanted because Draco was afraid to leave her in the manor unprotected for more than a few minutes.

The only other thing that had changed between them was how they slept. When Hermione had first been forced to share Draco's bed, they had erected an invisible wall between his side and hers. They weren't comfortable with each other, and everything was still awkward. But ever since their night spent in the Malfoy dungeons, Hermione had noticed that the wall was slowly coming down. At first it had just been that she would wake up and realize that his hand was touching her waist. Then one morning she woke up to find that her head was on his shoulder. It had happened so slowly that neither of them had really noticed, or been embarrassed by it. Then one night, Hermione had automatically put her head on his chest, and thrown one of her legs over his.

_Comfortable?_ He chuckled.

She just moved in closer, _I'm gonna wake up like this, so why not skip to the end. _

_Night, Hermione._

_Night, Draco, _Hermione thought, smiling to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

Then next afternoon, they were sitting peaceful, reading in the library, when Voldemort made his reappearance in their lives.

Posey popped into the library, "Master Malfoy, sir. You is wanted in the entrance hall, sir. Your father said that you have a visitor, sir."

Draco stiffened, "Who is it?"

"He-who-must-not-be-named sir."

He turned to Hermione, who was now standing up and fingering her 'leash-necklace.'

_You better take this_, she held out the end.

He took a deep, soothing, breath, his face falling into the familiar bored mask.

_Ok, lets go._

_Draco?_

_Yes._

_You can do this. We can do this._

He was silent.

_Draco?_

_Hmmm?_

_Whatever happens, just remember that I forgive you._

He couldn't answer. He was afraid that if he looked at her he would loose his nerve. And he didn't understand how someone could be so acquiescent, even for a Gryffindor. He knew if their positions had been reversed, his pride would never let him forgive her.

Sooner than he would have liked they were in the entrance hall.

"Ahhh, Draco. How has my little gift been treating you?" He asked, running one slim cold finger down the side of Hermione's arm. She didn't even flinch.

"I thank you for your gift, my Lord." Draco answered.

"Well, I thought that you might want to show your appreciation with a little show. Lucius, Narcissa, no need to join us. I have something very special planed for our little mudblood."

_Well, there is one silver lining._ Draco thought dryly, _at least my parents aren't going to watch._

"Follow me," Voldemort commanded, walking in the direction of the dungeons. "I trust that you have put this room to good use, training her properly."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Well then show me her progress. Pretend like I'm not here." He practically cackled with glee.

"Make sure she knows her place." His voice slid creepily down Draco's spine. In that moment he was exceedingly grateful that Hermione had made him read that sex book because it had given him some ideas about how to dominate Hermione without hurting her. Hopefully it would pacify Voldemort the voyeur.

"Alright, pet." He turned to address Hermione. _Just follow my lead_, he added privately.

"Kneel." She sunk to the floor, keeping her eyes downcast and remaining as still as possible.

_You are going to have to trust me._

He crossed over to the dresser by the entrance and pulled out a blindfold.

"You don't need to see anything, do you pet?" _Say, no master._

"No, master."

_But, Draco, _she pleaded; _I want to be able to see._

_If you can't see, then you will forget that he is even here. Just listen to my voice. I'll keep you safe._

_Okay. _She agreed, though her inner voice still sounded shaky.

He put the thick strip of black fabric over her eyes, tying it behind her hair. He moved behind her and removed her robe so that she was naked.

"Very pretty," he said softly.

"Stand," he commanded.

She stood, and he moved her, walking backwards until they came to the wall that was filled with manacles and chains. He slowly took her left arm and secured it to her right. Then he took both hands and tied them to a chain above her head. He drew his fingertips slowly down each of her arms after he had her fully secured. He felt her shiver under his touch. Her nipples were hard, though he didn't know whether it was from his touch or the cold of the dungeon. He also took the chain that was permanently around her waist and clipped it into the wall.

"You have been a good girl for me, pet."

"Yes, master," she replied automatically.

"Good girls deserve a reward," he said, slowly caressing her stomach up towards the undersides of her breasts.

"Please, sir."

Draco's hands came up to encircle her neck, and then slowly he unbuttoned her collar.

"This isn't what I have in mind for tonight," he cast the clunky chain to the ground, and then pulled the delicate chain with a small padlock out of his pocket and fastened it around her delicate neck, slowly kissing and sucking around the chain.

"Say thank you for the pretty new collar I gave you." He whispered against the skin of her neck.

"Thank you, master."

"I have another present for you," he said, backing away from her and pulling a pair of the nipple clamps from his other pocket. He moved hands down to caress her breasts, and then he sucked lightly on the nipples, flicking his tongue back and forth _over them._

_Ahhhhhh… Draco._

_It's ok,_ he comforted her. _Just feel, Hermione. You are so beautiful._

She moaned again. At that exact moment Draco opened one of the clamps and brought it to her nipple. She gasped and arched her back. He moved to the other nipple, giving it the same treatment. He loved how each clamp had a small green emerald dangling from it, which swayed back and forth with every breath she took. He moved his hands down to her hips.  
"Open your legs," he demanded. She obeyed. He chained her ankles with some convenient manacles so that she was now dangling a few inches off of the ground. He used the extra room to push her knees even farther apart.

He used one hand to circle her clit, rubbing until he could feel her moving against him, craving his touch.

"Are you wet for me?"

"Yes," she gasped.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, master."

"I want you to beg for it," he said, sliding two fingers into her body. "I want you to beg me to fuck you."

"Mmmmm," she groaned.

"What was that?" He asked, pulling his fingers out and circling her clit again. "I couldn't hear you, pet." He sent a huge blast of desire at her through their link.

"Oh God, oh please..."

"Please, what?" He said. He took a candle from its stand. He licked up the side of her breast then slowly dripped wax on the area where his tongue had just been. She shrieked in surprise.

"That's right- you need to speak clearly or you will be punished." He knew it sounded cruel, but that was the point. He figured that if he could make Hermione beg, that maybe Voldemort would be satisfied, and he wouldn't have to hurt her. He could "break her" without really breaking her. He knew that if he looked over at Voldemort to see if he was enjoying the show that Hermione would sense his disgust through the bond, which would be counterproductive.

He was still moving his hands around he clit, and she was breathing in little pants.

"Please… please… please…"

"You have to say it, pet. Say, 'Please fuck me, master."

Hermione's whole body was tense, and Malfoy knew that she was close to cumming, so he slowed down, keeping her right on the edge.

"Please… God… Master… Fuck… Me." She cried.

"Good girl," he said.

He entered her roughly in one fluid motion, causing her to cry out.

"Who owns you?"

_Say, "you, master."_

"You, master."

"That's right."

_You are so amazing Hermione, just keep playing along. Please just keep answering me- I don't want to hurt you. I don't mean it._

_Ok._ Even her voice in his head sounded breathless.

He risked a glance at Voldemort, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying Hermione's humiliation, helplessly chained to a wall while he used her. Voldemort seemed to enjoy the crulty just as much as the pain he had inflicted.

Hermione cried out, drawing Draco's attention back to her.

_Ohhh… God… Draco!_

And she was cumming.

Every fiber of his body wanted to kiss her, to move closer to her. He wanted to rip the blindfold off and stare into her gorgeous chocolate eyes, but he knew that he had to be the master.

He had to play his damn role.

"Did I tell you that you could cum? You are only here for my pleasure, mudblood. I can do whatever I want to you. I OWN YOU!"

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry._ He repeated the litany in his head over and over – hoping that she would pay more attention to his words that were coming through their bond than those coming through his mouth. Then, he pulled out and slapped the outside of her left breast, causing the nipple clamp to bounce from side to side.

He could tell that she wasn't turned on anymore. They both seemed to simultaneously notice that Voldemort was breathing heavily from his corner seat.

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…_

_It's ok._ She responded, though she sounded on the verge of tears.

_I am all out of ideas. I don't want to hurt you anymore. _He realized how panicked his voice sounded.

_Ok. He seems to like the humiliation combined with violence. Undo my hands._

He did what she suggested.

_Now, tell me to finish you._

_Finish me?_

_Blow you, Draco!_ Her voice almost sounded snooty, like he had gotten a question wrong in Transfiguration.

_Ok._

"Suck me off, mudblood. And you better do it well."

The position had to be terribly uncomfortable for Hermione, bent at the waist; her bottom half still chained to the wall while her top half was perpendicular. It did however give Draco an excellent view of her smooth back, as well as those two amazing dimples she had in her lower back.

She used her hands on his pelvis to stabilizer herself as she sucked. Draco tried to remain above it, thinking about how Hermione was being forced to do this and how he shouldn't be enjoying it, but she was really good at it. Within two minutes he was about to cum.

_Cum on me_. She commanded.

_What?_

_It has to look like you are humiliating me. Just put it on my breasts or stomach- then rub it around or something. I don't know- just make it look like a finale._

So he jerked her off of him by her shoulders, then he came on her breast. Once he had finished cumming, pushed her fully back against the wall.

"You are my little filthy slut, aren't you?" He said as he rubbed his cum into her skin. He took the nipple clamps off, one at a time, pinching each nipple as he did so that the blood rushing back to the tissues would cause less pain- a trick he had learned thanks to the sex book.

"I get to do whatever I want with you, but for now I am done." And with that he spit right on her boob.

_Sorry, Hermione, I thought the humiliation factor would be good._

_Ewwww, Draco, gross._

He couldn't help but smirk in his head. _After everything we have done, spit is gross?_

She didn't reply, but her mood did brighten at his tone.

* * *

Hermione had been avoiding looking at Voldemort since they entered the dungeon room. Just hearing his creepy breathing was enough to make her seriously nauseous, so as Draco turned to speak to him, she cast her eyes on the dungeon floor and tried to focus on the theory behind transforming a hedgehog into a pincushion. Not surprisingly, it didn't work.

"My lord, I hope you enjoyed our little show." Draco said.

"Very much. I can see she has taken to your training very well, though I do believe that you are too lenient with her. I would like for you now to prepare her to serve others. I would like to see her please more than one of my loyal servants."

_Shit._

"But, milord," Draco interrupted. "Have I done something to displease you? I wish to keep her as my pet."

"You must not be selfish, Draco, or I will begin to think that you have developed feelings for the mudblood whore. That would displease me greatly." His tone became icy.

_Double shit._

"Yes, my lord." Draco sounded resolved.

With that, Voldemort crossed the room and used one slender cold finger to lift Hermione's chin, forcing her to look at him.

"You did well, pet. You must keep doing well if you want to continue to live through the next death eater meeting." He finished talking then licked her cheek, causing Hermione to shudder involuntarily. He used his other hand to slap her.

"Still repulsed by my touch. I will beat that out of you after I kill your precious Harry Potter."

Turning with a swish of his cloak, he strode out of the room, leaving Draco and Hermione alone.

* * *

As soon as he was gone, Hermione crumbled, hugging herself around the waist. Still chained to the wall, she started to sob uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so so sorry." Draco said as he walked forward to unchain her. Once he did he carried her over to the bed and set her down. She was still crying.

He didn't know what to say, or what to do. He didn't know how to make anything better, so he tried to focus on something he could control- getting her clean. Walking to the steps outside the dungeon, he used a conjuring charm to get some clean towels, a glass of water, and a mild sleeping draft. Walking back to Hermione, he cleaned all of his fluids off of her while she sat numbly on the bed. He then helped her dress in her black robe, and gave her a few sips of water.

Now she seemed to be calming down, breathing more evenly.

"I bought you a sleeping draft." He said.

"I don't want it. What if he comes back?"

She looked at him with her big brown eyes and Draco felt lost.

"I promise you, I wont let them touch you."

"You may not have a choice."

"There is always a choice," he said softly. "Sometimes the choices are just harder."

* * *

They sat in silence for a few minutes; Draco had re-dressed, hoping to make her feel more comfortable. Now he was standing awkwardly by the door, wishing they could leave this horrible room.

"I wonder what everyone at Hogwarts is doing right now." Hermione said, breaking the silence. "I was so excited for NEWT classes. Did you know that we were going to learn how to brew felix felicis and wolfsbane potion. Plus, we were going to attempt the animagus transfiguration. I know most people only learn the theory, but McGonagall said that she would actually allow me to attempt the spell." She was speaking quickly and her voice sounded off.

"Hermione are you ok?" Draco interrupted. "I think we have more important worries than missing our classes."

"You don't understand," she replied. "I have to have things like this. Small things. They remind me that I am human. Yes, there is a war going on, but I have a real life. I am not somebody's pet. I am still able to make choices about my life- my body- my future."

"I am beginning to forget that I can still be me, not just a shell of something Voldemort wants me to be." She finished sadly.

"You will always be Hermione Granger, know-it-all, Gryffindor princess, and the only brains behind Potter. No one can take that away from you- not Voldemort and especially not me."

"But, you are the one with all the power. Yes, I know you don't want it, but that doesn't change anything. You could order me to do just about anything and I would have to obey- because I am your fucking pet. God, this whole situation is so fucked up."

"Language, Miss Granger," he teased.

She ignored him. "And what is even more colossally fucked up, part of me liked it. I had an orgasm…in front… of… HIM."

Draco was trying to stay outwardly calm, but he was beginning to freak out. Hermione hadn't had a meltdown like this. Even on their first horrible night together, she had been rational, but now she was blubbering and breaking down. Words just kept spilling quickly out of her mouth, like she had stored up all of this baggage and was now unable to contain it.

"It just all seems so tainted. I don't want it to be this way! I hate him, Draco, for being who he is, and for making us live like this. And I hate you for not being the monster that I though you were. And I hate Harry and Ron for leaving me behind in this place. And I hate myself for not being strong enough. But I can't hate you, Draco, I just can't. I can't hate any of you- it's not who I am."

For the first time, she looked up at him. He was amazed how gorgeous her eyes were after she cried, like liquid chocolate. Still at a loss for what to say, he hugged her, trying desperately to put all of his conflicting emotions into one hug. It seemed to calm her because she stopped crying at least. And while he hugged her Draco thought about what her life must be like. He though about what he would want, if all control had been taken from him. He would want some of it back, even if it were just for a short time. He needed that feeling of power, so maybe Hermione did too. Thinking to himself, he hugged her until she had calmed down enough to stop crying. Finally she was sitting up on the bed, drying her tears. He stood a few paces in front of her.

_I'm not very good at this- comforting- thing._ He admitted. _I have an idea._

She didn't answer, but he didn't expect her to.

"Ok, well since I had my way with you, its only fair that you get equal time."

He sighed. "For the next hour-ish you have complete control. You can order me around, beat me, be alone, whatev…"

She cut him off by walking over and kissing him hard. He hadn't expected her to actually take him up on his offer, and he certainly didn't expect her to kiss him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and jumped slightly, so that her legs were wrapped around his waist. From her higher vantage point, she broke the kiss. Looking down at him she smiled. Draco thought she had never looked more like a Slytherin. Damn, that turned him on.

"Or… that." He smirked.

"No talking," she ordered, kissing him again.

She hopped down from him, grabbing his hand and leading him over to the bed. She pushed him so that he was lying flat on his back in the center. Then she climbed on top of him, straddling his waist and giving him another soul-punishing kiss. He moved to put his hands on her waist, but her hands grabbed his wrists and forced his arms back down to his sides.  
"ah, ah… no touching." She whispered, moving to kiss his jaw, and then to suck a sensitive spot on his neck. He groaned. He didn't know what had gotten into her, but she was sex incarnate. And he didn't want to do anything that might make her stop. While she trailed her mouth down to his shirt collar, her hands slowly walked up his chest and began to unbutton each one. As licked at the newly exposed skin, paying special attention to his nipples. He arched off of the bed when she lightly bit down on one, while stroking his chest with her hands.

He wanted to touch her so badly. She looked so amazing on top of him that he wasn't sure she was actually real. He was about to move his hands- her no touching rule be damned- when she moved her knees overtop his open hands, almost as if she had realized his intention.

They made eye contact, and she smiled, biting her lower lip. She then bent down to kiss him again, slipping her tongue into his mouth. Her hands traveled again down his chest, her nails lightly scraping, until she reached the edge of his pants. She unbuttoned them, pulling out his cock and stroking it, causing him to moan against her mouth. She pulled away from his mouth, sliding down his body and pulling his pants completely off. Draco was now fisting the comforter in an effort to keep from touching her- this was torture. She then stroked her hands up his legs to his hips, placing them on either side of his cock but not touching it.

She stopped. Draco was completely erect, and he though that he would die if she didn't touch him soon. He angled his head to look down at her, and saw that she was looking up at him, her mouth only inches from his cock. Never breaking eye contact, she slowly licked the underside of his shaft, then swirled her tongue around the head before pulling all of him into her mouth. He groaned, his head falling back onto the bed.

"Merlin" he gasped.

_I said no talking._

She kept moving her head up and down, like a woman possessed. Draco was now squeezing the comforter so hard that he doubted he would ever regain full feeling in his fingers. He couldn't help that his hips had begun to rock under her movements.

"Please, Hermione," he rambled, not sure if he wanted her to stop or continue.

_NO TALKING._

_God, Hermione, I'm…gonna…cum._

She immediately stopped, moving completely from his grasp.

"I told you not to talk, that includes through our bond."

A sheen of perspiration covered Draco's body, and every muscle seemed to be contracted in his effort to stay still.

"Do I need to start all over?" she teased.

He frantically shook his head side to side.

She smiled that Slytherin smile, and then moved back on top of him. She positioned his cock at her entrance, then slowly brought her body down on top of his, gasping at the fullness. Leaning down so that her breasts touched his chest, she began to rock slowly up and down on his shaft. Her mouth moved to his neck and she sucked at the area where his neck connected to his shoulders, marking him. Then she leaned back, grinding her pelvis against his, and rode him. Her eyes had closed in pleasure. Draco was left, staring up at her in awe. She reminded him of one of an ancient goddess, taking her pleasure from mere mortals. She was power, and Draco craved her more than he had ever craved anything in his entire life.

Hermione loved the feeling of Draco under her. She loved that it was her body that was able to control his- to drive him crazy with lust. She could feel how much he wanted her through their bond, and it made her feel invincible. She sped up her motions, groaning.  
"Draco, I'm gonna cum."

He just grunted, knowing he shouldn't speak. This was her moment.

As her orgasm sent her shattering into a million pieces, she felt him swell inside of her until he was cumming with her. She kept him inside of her for a few infinite moments, and then rolled next to him panting heavily.

"Wow." Draco gasped.

She just smiled.

_Please, can I touch you now?_ He asked.

_Draco Malfoy, asking please_, she teased, and then nodded.

He slowly rolled onto his side to face her, still breathing heavily. With his free hand he traced a line down the side of her face. Then he leaned towards her and gave her a soft kiss- trying to convey as much gratitude and amazement as possible.

He then collapsed against her, buying his nose in the hair against her neck.

_Thank you. I thought you were going to punch me again, like at Hogwarts._ He laughed, _but your idea was way better._

_Well, I am the smartest witch in our year, _she quipped. _Seriously though, thank you Draco. I needed that._

_You can "need that" to me anytime_. He said sleepily.

_I just wanted sex to be my choice for once. I don't really know how to explain it._

He interrupted her_. You don't need to. I understand. But you still amaze me, Hermione Granger._

They moved into the familiar sleeping positions, snuggling into each other until they were comfortable. Draco quickly fell into an exhausted sleep. Hermione smiled, and then joined him.


	7. Chapter 7

They were awoken an hour later by Posey.

"Sir and miss must wake up," she squeaked frantically.

Draco groaned.

"G'way…" he hugged Hermione closer. "Sleeping," he mumbled into her hair.

"Sir, he-who-must-not-be-named is at Hogwarts, sir. He summoned all of the Death eaters, sir, but you didn't wake up, sir." She sounded terrified.

"Shit!" Draco shot up. He looked the mark on his arm, which was not burning or glowing.

"Magic doesn't work in this room, and that must include the mark," Hermione said.

"Sir, he has asked that you bring miss with you to the forest outside of Hogwarts, sir."

"What, why does he want Hermione?"

"Posey does not know sir. Posey is sorry sir." She looked near tears.

"Draco is not angry with you, Posey," Hermione said, trying to calm the house elf. "Thank you for delivering the message."

"Posey," Draco said, drawing the elf's attention back to him, "get me a coat for Hermione as well as my wand and some of my clothes." Posey nodded and with a crack, she disapparated.

* * *

As soon as their clothes appeared, Draco started pulling them on. Hermione took the coat, but her hands were shaking. She seemed to be having trouble doing up the buttons.

He walked up to her and did them for her. Then he took her chin and lifted her eyes to his.

_If you get a chance to disarm me and escape- take it. _

_No, we escape together_, she protested.

_We can try, but promise me that if you have a chance to get away, you will use it. I think that he wants you there tonight for a reason, and I don't like it. This may be your best chance- your only chance. You have to get out, even if that means leaving me behind. I'll be alright. I want your promise. _

She stared at him for one long moment, searching for something in his eyes. Then slowly said, "I promise, Draco."

He leaned down and kissed her, fearing in the back of his mind that this was the last time he would ever be able to touch her. He had to kiss her at least one last time. He knew that if he kissed her for too long that he would never be able to let her leave, so the kiss ended as quickly as it had begun.

_Hermione... I..._ He paused, unable to articulate.

_I know. Me too_. She answered.

So he took her hand and led her out of the dungeon to the front of the house. As soon as they had left the secret room, Draco's mark had begun to burn. He stopped them at the entrance to Malfoy manor, turning towards her. Then without speaking he touched his mark, and they apparated together.

* * *

They reappeared in the forbidden forest, where it seemed Voldemort had set up a base camp. It was a secluded clearing, which was deep in the forest, but not so deep that you couldn't hear the noises coming from the distant castle. There were several people moving around the clearing. Some were milling awkwardly, trying to blend into the dark background of the forest. Others were moving purposefully from group to group trying to coordinate attack plans and strategize.

Hermione was the first to notice Voldemort. He was sitting in a throne-like chair that he had conjured for himself on one side of the clearing. Next to him was Professor Snape, who seemed to be arguing with Voldemort about something that she couldn't hear. Naguini was also curled up at Voldemort's feet. When she finally gazed into Voldemort's face, she expected him to be confident and excited, but instead she saw a hint of fear. She realized that Voldemort must have discovered what she, Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore had been up to over the past year. As if he could sense her gaze, he looked away from Snape and towards Draco.

"Draco Malfoy. Finally. What took you so long to answer my call?" He hissed softly, which made the question sound all the more menacing.

"I am sorry my lord, I was enjoying the room that you created. As you know, magic doesn't work, so I did not feel your call."

"Ahhhh, well then I can hardly blame you for following my orders and breaking the pretty mudblood. Bring her here. And take those clothes off of her, they offend me."

As he had spoken across the clearing, drawing attention to Draco and Hermione, all of the death eaters present seemed to pause what they were doing and watch the interaction. Hermione suddenly felt more self-conscious than she had ever felt at the Malfoy manor. Here she was being shown off deliberately. Draco had grabbed ahold of the edge of her leash (how she hated that damn thing), and tugged on it just enough to make her wince. She followed discretely behind him, pulling the edges of her sheer robe together in an effort to distance herself from the gawking crowd.

"Hello pet. I have a very important job for you." He crooned. She refused to respond, staring instead at Naguini.

"When Potter comes to me. And yes, he will come to me. I am going to show him how I have broken you- that none of his friends are safe. He is going to see you for who you truly are- mudblood scum."

She knew that Draco had to be able to feel her disgust through their bond. As Voldemort gestured for her to sit at his feet near Naguini, she sent him a message through the bond.

_I don't think he has put up any anti-apparition spells, because we were able to apperate right into the clearing. If I can get my hands on any wand, I can disapperate immediately, which is my best chance of escape. I think that he plans to kill me in front of Harry, or do something worse. _

_Ok, well this is at least the start of a plan, which is better than anything that we have had in a long time. Why don't I come over there and you can 'disarm' me. _

_No! I don't want you to get in trouble, and it is possible that with torture or legilimency that Voldemort will be able to realize that it was planed. _

_How about we try and get someone else's wand first, but if that plan fails then we go with my idea. Either way, you need to be long gone by the time that Harry shows up. _

_Ok, we need a death eater that I can get the jump on._

But before they could decide on a particular target, another problem presented itself in the form of Fenrir Greyback. He came slinking over to Voldemort, dressed in his death eater robes.

"My lord, please will you let me have the pretty." He moved closer to Hermione, his hand moving to pet her face. "She wants me," he barked, "I can always tell when a bitch is in heat."

Hermione could feel Draco's anger, and she saw him move protectively towards her. Then, she saw the outline of a wand in Greyback's cloak pocket.

_Push him, so that he has to turn and face you_. Hermione commanded Draco, her heart pounding.

He didn't respond to her, but instead grabbed Greyback by the shoulder.

"No one touches my pet without my permission, mutt." He bellowed.

Hermione made her move, inching her hand up slowly at first and then plunging it quickly into Greyback's left pocket. When she felt what she was looking for she pulled her hand out just as quickly. It seemed to take a second for Greyback to even realize what she had done. She wanted to say something. Something that was pithy, clever, or retaliatory towards Voldemort. Something that proved they had never broken her. Something that proved they were going to loose. But instead, she just stared at Voldemort. Then in the second that it took to separate herself completely from Greyback, their eyes met. And Hermione did the one thing that came to her mind- she smiled.

Then with a quick turn she was gone.


	8. Chapter 8

She disapparated to another area of the forbidden forest just outside of Hogsmead, near the shrieking shack. She immediately transformed her sheer robe into a pair of jeans and a baggy top, as well as a pair of sneakers. It felt almost odd to be wearing normal clothes, but at the same time she had missed their comfort and the warmth. She sent Draco a quick message through the link, telling him that she was safe, and she was going to try and meet up with the resisters in the castle. Emerging from the trees, as the coast was clear, she made her way back towards the castle. She used Greyback's wand to cast a messenger patronus to Professor McGonagall, asking for a safe way into the castle. She briefly thought about sending a message to Ron or Harry, but she didn't want to distract them from any mission they might be on. One thing she could always count on with her friends was that they attracted trouble.

McGonagall's patronus, a beautiful tabby, came back and whispered in her ear to go to the place where Dumbledore's Army first started. So she made her way carefully through the practically empty streets of Hogsmead towards the Hogs Head Pub. Once there, she found the bartender guarding a door near the back.

"You are one of the last ones to arrive. Who are ya?"

"Hermione Granger, is there a way to get into the castle from here?"

"Granger, I thought you had been capture by Death Eaters months ago. Everyone thinks you're dead."

"Yea, well I'm alive. And I have to get to Hogwarts."

"Sure thing, I can't stop you if you've got a death wish."

He led her into the back room to the picture of a beautiful young girl with large, sad eyes.

"She will show you the way. I think that I am going to close this passage after you go through. I don't want the Death Eaters using it to get into the castle."

"Well, then, why don't you come with me? Sorry, I don't even know your name." Hermione realized.

"It's Aberforth."

"Aberforth Dumbledore? You are Professor Dumbledore's brother."

"Yes." He seemed to stop, and Hermione didn't know if he was thinking about joining her or if he was lost in a memory of his brother.

"Alright, I'll come with ya. Seems to me we have lost the war anyways, but if Potter is crazy enough to fight. Well, hopefully he has got some good reason to think he can win."

"I've never doubted Harry before," Hermione smiled. Then together they entered the picture frame and ran along the passage into the school.

At the end of the passage there was a door. Hermione opened it eagerly and made her way into a large room. In it she saw many different Hogwarts students milling around what looked like three different house banners with several hammocks strung up underneath. There was a commotion in the center of the room, which was drawing everyone's attention. Percy Weasley was shouting at his family, saying that he was sorry for everything. Mr. Weasley looked to be fighting back tears. Ron was scowling and the twins were trying to look severe, but she could tell that they were about to crack into identical smiles. Ginny was also smiling, looking at her mother who was weeping openly and hugging Percy. It looked like she was going to suffocate him.

Aberforth spoke from behind her, "I let one last person through, but then closed the passage."

At his words everyone had turned around realized who was actually standing at the passageway entrance. It was almost comical. Everyone stopped moving, with the exception of their eyes bulging and their jaws opening slackly. They were all looking at her like they had seen a ghost. Then slowly both Ron and Harry started making their way towards her. If was as if they though that moving too fast would spook her and she would disappear. They didn't even blink.

"Hi, everyone." She said softly.

"Hermione." Ron's voice cracked as he said her name. Harry was the first one to break out of his trance, finally reaching her and flinging his arms around her.

"Thank Merlin you're alright." He whispered into her hair. "We were completely lost without you."

She felt Ron join their hug and she wrapped her arms around the two boys that she had been sure she would never see again. Realizing that they were still alive, unharmed, and here with her was too much for Hermione, and she started to cry silently.

_Hermione_, she felt Draco on the edge of her bond, almost as if he was trying to be cautious.

_Are you all right? I can feel you crying. _

_Yesss…. They're alive…. I found them…. The Weasleys… Harry… my friends…. They're OK!_

_I'm glad you're happy_. He responded, but she could feel a tinge of sadness that he seemed to be trying to cover up. It was almost like he felt left out. Suddenly she saw a much younger Draco with no friends and big sad silver grey eyes. She didn't know where the image came from, but it hurt her to think of Draco feeling alone.

_This is all because of you. You helped me Draco. You saved me. Thank you! _

He didn't respond.

Harry pulled her back into the present by asking her how she had escaped from Malfoy manor.

"They are all congregated in the forbidden forest. There is a big clearing, and Voldemort is there. He brought me along in the hopes that I would draw you out, Harry, but he seemed very confident that you would willingly go and met him. Then Greyback came over near me, and as he was distracted I made a grab for the wand in his pocket. Once I had it I disapperated to near the shrieking shack. I met up with Aberforth and now I'm here."

She looked around the room. "I don't want to talk about what happened to me at the Malfoy manor because we don't have time, but I do want to make one thing clear. The only reason I survived was because of Draco Malfoy. He kept me as safe as he could. So please don't attack him. I left him behind in the forest, but I don't want him to die in the battle without anyone knowing what he did for me."

If anything the room was more silent. Luna Lovegood was smiling serenely. She seemed to have accepted that Malfoy could be a hero very easily. Others, such as Ron, didn't look convinced.

"That ferret." He scowled.

"I'm not asking you to like him, Ron," she responded in a haughty tone she hadn't used in months. "I'm just asking you to not hurt him."

"Fine." He huffed, but Hermione wasn't convinced.

"How did you know about Aberforth?" Harry asked. She suspected he was equal parts curious and anxious to change the subject.

"First I apperate to another part of the forest. Then I messaged MaGonagall and she told me about the Hogs Head. I was worried about the Death Eaters patrolling the village, but I made it without any hiccup."

"Wait," Ron interrupted, "If there are tons of Death Eaters patrolling around Hogsmead, why didn't you just apperate to MaGonagall?"

She rolled her eyes, and then smiled. "Because, Ronald Weasley, you can't apperate on Hogwarts grounds. Honestly, am I the only one who has bothered to read Hogwarts, a History?" She couldn't help laughing at how easy it was to fall back into her role as the group know-it-all.

Harry was laughing, and soon Ron joined in.

* * *

Draco was lucky. It seems that Voldemort had decided to focus his anger at Hermione's escape on Greyback alone. After several rounds of the cruciatus curse, Voldemort had told the werewolf to enjoy attacking the castle because tonight would be his last.

Draco had tried to spend the rest of the night blending into the backdrop of trees being as inconspicuous as possible. He was now sitting at the base of one of the bigger trees, talking in low tones with his mother about the safest possible plan. He was only half paying attention to her, as he was worried about the emotions he was feeling through the link with Hermione.

"Mr. Malfoy," Voldemort called across the clearing.

Draco rose, knowing that he shouldn't show any hesitation or trepidation. He walked purposefully to Voldemort's side, keeping his gaze fixed on Naguini.

"I am disappointed. I confess. I enjoyed watching you train the mudblood, but now I have nothing left to amuse me." His voice trailed off, making it seem like he wasn't entirely present. After a pause, he looked again at Draco and his voice grew stronger.

"I do not like being disappointed. So I am giving you a chance for redemption. Within the hour we will have breached the defenses around Hogwarts. You need to retrieve your pet, or kill her for her disobedience. Take Crabbe and Goyle with you." He waved his hand, dismissing Draco.

As Draco turned to go, Voldemort's voice floated after him through the clearing. "And, Draco, if you don't come back with her or her corpse then don't come back."

Having spent enough time in the hell that was the Manor, Draco knew Voldemort's particular brand of death threats when he heard one. He chanced a glance at his mother, who looked petrified.

He gave her a small smile. Malfoy's, after all, didn't talk about their feelings. They didn't say, "I love you," or "be careful." So Draco did the best that he could with a smile before turning his back on his mother and making his way out of the forest towards the castle.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: If some of the dialogue looks familiar, I tried to stay as true to the book as possible. It should be repeated that I am not JK Rowling, and I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

They had split up to search the room.

The horcrux had to be here, she thought desperately. After everything that she, Harry, Ron, Draco, and the rest of the wizarding world had been through, she needed just this one stroke of luck. The rational portion of her brain was convinced that this was too easy, but she tried not to listen. After all, Voldemort had underestimated Harry, Draco, and even her, so maybe he had underestimated them again.

She was so focused on the search that she didn't even notice the voices coming from the other side of a large pile of furniture and other junk.

"Descendo!' she heard a voice shout, though she couldn't figure out exactly who had spoken. Suddenly the small mountain of discarded treasures came crashing down on her head. As the edge of an old trunk hit her shoulder, she screamed in pain.

_Hermione! Hermione!_ Draco's voice sounded frantic. _Are you ok? Are you hurt?_

In her stunned state, she didn't respond. What was Draco doing here? But she hardly had any time at all to think before the mountain started to engulf her. It was like a painful tsunami of junk that she couldn't seem to escape from.

"Finite!" She heard Harry yell, stopping the rest of the mountain from collapsing, but she was to preoccupied to think of much else.

* * *

"No!" Draco shouted. He was so worried about Hermione. He could tell that she was alive, because he could feel her pain through their bond, but she wasn't answering him. He hadn't expected to run into her this early. After sneaking back into the school to get Crab and Goyle, he never expected them to have come up with a plan on their own.

Crab was now giving him an incredulous look, asking why Draco had stopped him from having fun.

"If you wreck the room you might bury this diadem thing!" His mind was reeling. He didn't know what the hell that was, but he had heard Potter talking about it earlier. It was the best excuse he could come up with, so he decided to run with it. After all, he was more concerned with finding Hermione than placating Crabbe.

"What's that matter?" said Crabbe. "It's Potter the Dark Lord wants, who cares about a die-dum?"

God, he had become accustomed to spending time with intelligent people instead of minions. He blamed Granger.

"Potter came in here to get it," he said, with the tone that suggested he was talking to an especially unintelligent cross between a first-year and a slug.

"so that must mean-"

"'must mean'?' Crabbe turned to Malfoy, giving him a look of hatred. What was the deal with Crabbe and Goyle? First they formed their own plans, and then they started disrespecting him. They had really changed.

"It's that mudblood, Avada Kedavra!" Draco was not going to let Crabbe kill Hermione. In a panic, forgetting he had a wand, he tried to wrestle with his former friend, but Crabbe's gargantuan size made it easy for him to overpower Draco. Before Draco knew what had happened, he had lost his wand, and Crabbe was running after Harry and Hermione.

_Run. I couldn't stop him_, he warned Hermione at the same time he yelled, "Don't kill them! DON'T KILL HER!"

What the hell was happening. His mind couldn't process the fact that Crabbe had started throwing around unforgivable curses. Draco was shocked that Crabbe even knew what the curses were, much less had the power to cast them. And to make matters worse, Hermione still wasn't answering him.

He figured the best thing to do was to stay out of the way. He didn't have a wand, and Potter and Weasley would perceive anything he did as a threat. Crabbe was so curse-crazy that he was more likely to hit Draco than his target.

Goyle had been hit with a stunning spell. Potter seemed to still be searching for the damn diadem, when he should be just getting the hell outta dodge.

And then Draco smelled the smoke.

Then there was fire.

The golden trio had run off, and the flames were getting too hot. He had to try to drag a stunned Goyle up a pile of old junk in order to avoid the magical flames. God, Goyle was heavy (at least that hadn't changed.) Draco was panting, fighting as odds and ends crashed around him. He must have been getting light headed because he kept seeing flashes of other areas of the room, but they never lasted very long. He felt dizzy. Crabbe was nowhere to be seen, and he had no control of his blazing creation. The smoke was getting thicker. He could feel Hermione's utter panic through their bond, and he selfishly hoped that at least some of it was for him.

Then his mountain of discarded knick-knacks was completely encircled in the angry consuming inferno, and there was no way out.

Maybe the fire would cleanse him. Burn away his sins. He thought that it was somewhat fitting that Voldemort had forced him to torture people by fire, and he was going to die by fire as well. Actually it was ironic. He had been living in fear that Voldemort, one of the most brilliant dark wizards who had ever lived. But it was really Crabbe, one of the stupidest oafs to ever call himself a wizard, who would be his downfall. As he stood holding up a still mostly unconscious Goyle, the flames danced closer, and his last thought was that he hoped Hermione made it out of the room.

* * *

Hermione was frantic; she had lost Draco. She knew that they both had their parts to play, and she also knew that he had absolutely saved her and most likely saved Harry by deflecting Crabbe's curses. She could also feel their bond weakening, almost like he was cutting her off, keeping her from feeling his death.

_Damn it, DRACO MALFOY_, she shouted. _Answer me._

She tried to find him through their bond, but she could never make the full connection, and she was distracted by the fact that she was still running for her life. Harry had managed to find brooms, bless the Hogwarts rule-breakers. Though Hermione hated flying, they were the single most beautiful pieces of trash that she had seen in this horrible room. They took to the sky.

_Draco, Draco, Draco_, she chanted the litany.

She saw that Harry was circling the area, looking for the others.

"Lets just get out of here." Ron said.

Hermione felt sick- they were not leaving until she knew that Draco was dead. And he wasn't! They had to find him. She had to find him.

_DRACO, DRACO, DRACO._

Then Harry dived into the thick smoke, and Hermione knew that he had seen something.

"Go," she pleaded with Ron. "We have to save him."

They arrived just in time for Hermione to see Draco grabbing onto Harry. He seemed unwilling to let go of Goyle, and his hand slid out of Harry's.

"IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!" Ron roared, hoisting Goyle onto their crowded broom.

_Thank God, Draco. _

Ron was not waiting a second longer, and Hermione turned to watch as Harry and Draco trailed behind them. Finally they passed through the little square patch of light and clean air rushed over her entire body. Hermione had never been as thankful for the oxygen around her at that moment. By the time she had fallen off of the broom, sunk to her hands and knees, and taken several large gasps of air, Harry and Draco had appeared in the hallway as well.

_Don't ever scare me again like that Malfoy_, she chided. Somehow the words had come out as concern instead of anger because she was so grateful that he was alive.

_Sorry Granger_, he smiled, still slumped, wandless against the floor.

_You are not allowed to die only hours after I let you go._

_Well, you are going to have to leave me again. We're enemies, remember!_ He teased.

She smiled. He was covered in soot and ash that made his pale blond hair look dark and dirty. He looked incredibly masculine, but it was the smile. Those white teeth slightly smirking at her that made her realize something astonishing.

She was in love with Draco Malfoy.

Who else would have risked so much for her. Who else could keep up with her in intellectual conversations. And most importantly, who could make her smile just seconds after she had been convinced she was going to burn to death.

Everything slowed down as she crawled over to him and hugged him, running her fingers through his hair. They were both still breathing heavily trying to replenish their oxygen supply. She pulled back so that only their foreheads were touching, and she stared down into his unfathomable grey eyes.

_Hermione, _she heard him whisper.

* * *

Suddenly the whole castle shook, Hermione had almost forgotten about the battle with everything that they had just gone through in the room of requirement. She didn't have time for this. She needed to help Harry.

She saw that Harry, Ron, and Goyle were still gasping on the floor a few feet away. Standing up and turning from Draco, she walked over to her friends.

_Hermione, please be carful_.

She didn't answer because she was distracted by the tiara that Harry had around his wrist. It was oozing a dark, blood-like liquid, and it had fragmented. That must mean that the Horcrux had been destroyed, but then…  
"It must have been Fiendfyre!" she whispered. Then she, of course, had to explain was fiendfyre was, and what that meant- the diadem was no longer a Horcrux.

Draco didn't know what Hermione was talking about. What did she mean, only the snake left? Did she need to kill Naguini? She had stopped as the group heard shouting down the hall. Potter and Weasley automatically started running towards the noise, but Hermione stopped.

_Are you gonna be ok? _She asked.

_Yea, lucky for me, none of your people will attack an unarmed wizard. I think I am just going to try and get back to my parents. _

_Be safe. _

_You too._ She had already turned to leave when he added, _princess_.

* * *

Draco knew that he couldn't stay in the hallway for the entire battle, no matter how appealing that sounded. Goyle had started to regain consciousness. They both ran down the hallway, trying to avoid the falling ceiling and cracking walls as the hallway crumbled around them. Finally they ended up in an open area where there were several students and death eaters all dueling. He tried to snake his way around the room, avoiding the curses, when suddenly he felt a horrible ache in the center of his chest. At first he thought that he must have been hit by a spell cast by someone in the room, but after he grabbed his chest and saw no visible signs of a curse, he realized that he must be feeling her pain.

_Hermione!_ He cried, worried that she had been hurt.

_Fred, Fred._ She sobbed. He could tell that she didn't realize she was talking to him. She was so overcome with grief.

There was only one thing that would cause such an aching hole to fill his chest- Fred Weasley, one of the only Weasley's he actually tolerated, was dead. He wanted with every fiber of his being to turn around and run to comfort Hermione. If he was feeling this grief, he knew that her pain was probably unbearable. She was crying, and he could feel her anguish. In his mind he heard her trying to reason with Ron, scared to death that he was so overcome with anger that he was going to get himself killed. _We can stop it. We can stop him, _Draco heard her think. It was like a lifeline that she was clinging too- the slim chance that soon all of this suffering would end.

He couldn't help it; tears fell silently for the broken girl who felt the weight of the world.

* * *

Draco hadn't known what to do. He was stuck in a battle where he wasn't on either side. Everyone seemed to be doing something- either running, fighting, casting spells. After stealing the stunned Death Eater's wand, he found himself acting as a junior healer, treating the wounded on both sides. He had helped heal cuts and burns as well as helped reverse the effects from some particularly nasty jinxes. Sometimes it was enough, but other times he just didn't have the knowledge to help save them. Denis Creevy, an annoying Gryffindor who had always been obsessed with Potter, had died in Draco's arms from a spell cast by Dolohov. As it had happened, Draco couldn't do anything other than hold the smaller boy and tell him that everything would be all right, even if that was a lie. What was one more lie on the list of sins committed by Draco Malfoy?

Suddenly a Death Eater that he didn't recognize grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. Pressing his wand into Draco's neck, the man said, "any last words, whelp?" His breath was horrid.

"I'm Draco Malfoy. I'm Draco. I'm on your side!" Draco replied, pleading. Man, this was really not his night. Then a stunning spell that came from behind hit the Death Eater right in the chest. Malfoy looked behind him, expecting to see an order member that had come to his rescue. No one was there.

_Duck!_ Hermione warned through their bond, but she was too late. Draco saw the blur of a hand coming towards him, felt pain in his jaw, and fell backwards on top of the unknown Death Eater.

"That's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!" Ron yelled.

_You ok?_ Hermione asked, already rushing to follow Potter and Weasley. He could tell that she was still incredibly upset. He watched her run down the hallway.

_I'm fine. I'm sorry about Fred. If anyone can save the world- it's you Granger. _

He could feel her surprise through their bond. She had stopped, and was about to turn and look back at him.

_Go! Stay safe._

Then she had disappeared.

Then everyone had thought that Harry was dead.

Then his mother saved Harry.

Then Harry had explained how he, Draco Malfoy, was the true master of the elder wand, whatever that was.

Then Harry had killed Voldemort.

Then it was all over.

All. Over.

Over.

And she had survived.


	10. Chapter 10

For the first time in over a year, Hermione went to bed unafraid. Everyone had apperated back to the Burrow for the night. It gave Mrs. Weasley a chance to fuss, which seemed to take her mind off of Fred. The Burrow was also private, which was good for her, Harry, and Ron, who had become even bigger celebrities. The only thing that she regretted was that she hadn't been able to see Draco after the battle. People had been coming up to her, congratulating her, thanking her, or mourning with her, and in all of the commotion she had lost track of him. Their bond also seemed to have gone silent, but she was too exhausted to be worried.

* * *

She woke up the next morning around ten after she spent the previous night tossing around. It had been odd to sleep without Draco. He was her anchor, always holding her in her sleep- a reassuring presence reminding her she wasn't alone.

Getting up, Hermione dressed and went down to breakfast. The burrow, as usual, was loud, messy, and amazingly comforting. Taking her seat in between Ginny and Ron, she listened as George explained a new line of products to Bill.

"These new daydream charms have a pause feature, so that you can get up and go to class, or answer a teacher's question without loosing the daydream completely. They also have less drooling associated with them. Fred thinks they are too expensive, but I think..."

Everyone was silent. George, who seemed to realize a second later what he had just said, shook his head and looked down.

"I just don't believe he's dead." He whispered.

"Oh, Georgie." Mrs. Weasley ran over to her son and enveloped him in a fierce hug around the back of his chair.

As Hermione felt the tears slide silently down her cheek, she spoke into the silence. "Mr. Weasley, do you know who in the ministry is in charge of the funeral arrangements?"

"I don't know, everything is in chaos at the moment. There was an official vote last night to make Kingsley the temporary Minister of Magic, but there is still a lot of confusion right now."

Percy, who had been quiet most of the morning, spoke up. "In the past, funerals were the responsibility of the chair of the department of magical cooperation, but because that position also involved dealing with muggles, it was abolished during the regime change. The ministry under You-Know-Who did not seem to be very interested in planning funerals."

"Because it happened at Hogwarts, it may be under the control of Minerva Magonagall," Mr. Weasley added. "Also, individual families will want to have their own memorial services." He walked over to his wife and put his hand consolingly on her shoulder.

"There should be a big memorial." Harry spoke up. "Everyone deserves the right to come together and morn. Then we get a chance to say goodbye."

"I want to help." Hermione said. "I know I will go crazy with nothing to keep me occupied, and this way I can thank everyone who helped us."

It was Ron who spoke up first. "Are you sure, Hermione? You just showed up after months of being held prisoner. No one knows what happened to you, but Harry and I never stopped feeling guilty for leaving you behind. You can't just keep yourself busy and pretend like nothing ever happened. You should talk to someone about it."

Hermione was looking at Ron in shock, her jaw agape. She was so surprised that something so insightful had come from him.

"You're an amazing friend, Ron Weasley." She said, looking directly into his eyes. Crossing the room, she gave him a big hug, squeezing him extra tight.

"Sheesh, Hermione, I know you think I have the emotional range of a tea-spoon, but I do have my moments."

"Yea, I guess I have been feeling a little nauseous lately, and I have had a lot of headaches recently. I just want to feel like everything is normal again."

He looked down at her, "well, I guess we can go and talk with McGonagall about planning the ceremony, but you should really think about talking to someone about what happened."

So after a nice lunch where Mrs. Weasley fussed about how they were all fretfully skinny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed off to Hogwarts. George had said that she wasn't ready to see the castle yet, and Ginny had stayed to comfort her brother.

After apparating to Hogsmead, Hermione still couldn't rid herself of the splitting headache. The ten minute walk to the castle seemed eerily peaceful considering the terror that had happened there just hours before. The sun was shining, and only a few puffy white clouds marred the otherwise uniformly blue sky.

Professor McGonagall met them out on the front lawn. She looked drained and her voice sounded horse and weak. She immediately went and hugged Hermione.

"I didn't get to say this before, but I am so glad that you are alright, Miss. Granger. We were sure that you had died horribly, yet here you are. It warms my heart."

"Thank you professor. Actually, if you wouldn't mind, I would really like to talk with you about what happened to me. I have a few questions about some of the magic that I encountered. Plus, some of my friends have pointed out that I should try and talk with someone." Hermione glanced amusedly at Ron.

"I would be honored. Though I am not sure I am the best choice. There are healers at Saint Mungos that work with victims of trauma and such."

"No, I honestly don't think I really need that. I had Draco with me, and he got me through a lot. He shielded me from the worst of Voldemort, and actually kept me sane."

Though McGonagall looked surprised and a little confused, she accepted Hermione's words. "Well then, Miss. Granger, I would love to help."

* * *

They spent the rest of the morning helping Professor McGonagall move a lot of the debris from the castle. There had been an initial sweep after the battle, but that had been mostly to search for the injured or dead. There was no denying that the castle was at least partially demolished, but Professor McGonagall told the group that there had already been several large donations from individuals as well as corporations who wanted to help rebuild. According to her, Hogwarts would re-open in the fall for a new term.

"I know that you three decided not to return to Hogwarts for your seventh year, but if you are interested in completing your education Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."

"Thanks, Professor." Said Harry, "but I don't know if I can ever go back. It just doesn't feel the same without Dumbledore. After everything that has happened, Hogwarts seems like my childhood."

"I don't know," Ron added. "I think that George is gonna need a lot of help in the shop. I've never been all that book smart. And George is gonna need someone now that Fred's gone."

"What about you, Miss Granger?"

"Oh, come on Professor, when have you ever known Hermione to turn down a chance to study?" Ron interjected.

"Yea, she has to fulfill her destiny of getting the highest N.E.W.T scores that Hogwarts has ever seen," Harry added.

"I would love to come back and finish my education." Hermione smiled. She wondered if the library had been part of the castle that was damaged in the battle. Hopefully not- she had a lot of catching up to do from missing a whole school-year!

After lunch, Harry and Hermione worked on writing letters inviting everyone to the memorial service, which was going to be held the following weekend on the grounds. Ron had gone back to the burrow to work on Fred's memorial and be with his family.

Harry broke the pleasant silence.

"Hermione…" He whispered.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I am so sorry. You have to know. After that night I re-played everything over and over in my head. It was a miracle that Ron and I made it out. Malfoy practically handed me his wand. And no matter what I did differently in my head, no matter how many situations I run through, I couldn't save you." Tears rolled silently down his cheeks.

"Oh, Harry!" She ran over and hugged him.

"You did save me Harry! If you hadn't escaped, I wouldn't have been valuable. After you were gone, Lucius Malfoy lied to Voldemort, saying that they had only captured me. He never would have kept me alive if it wasn't for you getting out. If you had stayed, Voldemort would have killed me in front of you, tortured you, and won the war."

"That doesn't really make me feel any better."

"Harry, I am not going to lie and say that my time at the manor was sunshine and rainbows, but Voldemort didn't torture me. The worst day was the first one. Honestly knowing that you and Ron were safe was the only thing that kept me going. But then Draco really stepped up. He risked his life to make me more comfortable."

"I know." Harry gave her a small smile. "I think that is what bothers me the most. I couldn't save my best friend, but Malfoy did." He paused. "I hated him. After what happened at the tower, I knew that he wasn't completely bad, but I still don't like him. But now I owe him because he saved you. It's hard to explain."

"I know Harry. And I am not expecting you to like him right away, but he is always going to be part of my life."

"What? Why? Don't tell me you have feelings for the git. Because honestly, Hermione, I don't think I am ready to hear that quite yet."

"No, it's nothing like that. I just will always be connected to him."

They lapsed into silence.

"Harry, have you ever heard of the unumentis charm?"

"Is that the one where you can hear someone's thoughts? After Voldemort, I am happy that my mind is my own again, thanks!"

"Yes, basically it is a way for two wizards to communicate telepathically and it cannot be detected using legilimency. Draco and I have that."

"What? But it's permanent, and really dangerous!"

"I know."

"Wow."

"I know."

"So you could talk to him right now?"

"He has been pretty silent since the battle. You know he saved our lives in the room of requirement- warned me through our link."

"What's it like?"

"Odd at first. His voice sounds different in my head- clearer and deeper. He says I sound less shrill."

"You have a soul bond with Draco Malfoy. Wow. Who else knows?"

"Just you. That is what I want to talk to Professor McGonagall about, but I think Draco should be there too."

"Where did he go? After the battle I mean. I saw him with his parents in the great hall."

"I'm sure Professor McGonagall knows. Let me see if I can ask him."

_Draco? Hey Draco? Where are you? We haven't talked since the battle._

Unexpectedly there was a sharp piercing pain shooting through her temple.

"Aaaahhh."

"What's wrong?"

"It's like I'm being blocked. Something has to be wrong. I can't reach him."

She stood up, not bothering to even say goodbye to Harry. She raced up the steps to the Headmaster's office. The entrance gargoyle had been badly damaged the night before, so she jumped over him and sprinted up the spiral staircase.

"Professor. Professor. Where are the Malfoys?"

"They were staying in the Hufflepuff dormitories, along with some of the other families. Winky." She called the house elf.

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"Can you get a message to Draco Malfoy to report to my office."

"Yes, Headmaster and miss." She bowed and with a crack was gone.

She reappeared a second later.

"I am sorry miss, but master Malfoy is not at Hogwarts, miss. He is at the ministry, miss."

"The ministry, why?"

"The trial, miss."

McGonagall went white.

"He wouldn't dare. That's obsene."

"What? Professor, who wouldn't dare? What trial?"

"I am afraid last night Mr. Amos Diggory was appointed as the new head of Magical law enforcement. Since his son's death and the start of the war, he seems to have inherited some of Barty Crouch's mania for catching dark wizards. I know he has always hated the Malfoys, but even he wouldn't hold a trial this soon. He couldn't have any evidence yet. That's not justice."

"Professor, would a unumentis bond work if one of the members was incarcerated?"

"The only thing that can weaken a bond like that is the presence of dementors. Wait, why are you asking Miss Granger?"

"Because Draco and I are bonded, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. Our bond was white, and I don't know much about that specific color of bond."

"Oh, Merlin!" Professor McGonagall ran to the fireplace. She had a one-minute floo call with someone at the ministry, who seemed to confirm that the Malfoys were given a ministry escort out of Hogwarts at 3 am after a search of the manor revealed dark artifacts. The wizard on the other line also said that Draco Malfoy was scheduled to appear in front of the Wizandgamot this afternoon.

"I have to go!" Hermione was furious.

"You can't tell the ministry about the color of your bond. This is very important. They shouldn't know that information until everything stabilizes. If Draco is put in Azkaban, your bond will sour and both of you were be miserable or insane for the rest of your lives."

"Here," she hand Hermione some powder. "Use my floo. Save Draco."


	11. Chapter 11

"Draco Malfoy, you sit before the full wizengamot to answer to your crimes committed during the war against He-who-must-not-be-named. As you came of age during this period of criminal activity, this council will be treating you as an adult. The charges are as follows…

That you did, knowingly and without the influence of any spells/potions, aid in the torture of several muggles, the kidnapping torture and imprisonment of Miss Hermione Jean Granger, and the destruction of Hogwarts under the orders of Tom Riddle Jr (also known as Lord Voldemort and He-who-must-not-be-named). Your prosecutors are Amos Diggory, head of magical law enforcement, and Mafalda Hopkirk, head of the misuse of magic office."

There was silence as Draco sat in chains, waiting for something to happen.

"The prosecution has collaborated and agreed that if you plead guilty, confess your crimes, and answer all our questions honestly, you will be given 15 years in Azkaban instead of the recommended life-sentence due to your age. We have decided that this is an incredibly lenient penance for the severity of your crimes." Diggory said dispassionately.

_Shit._ Draco thought_, how ironic that he survived for this- this shit. Well, technically it is true, I guess, depending on your definition of aid. _

"How do you plead?"

He opened his mouth, ready to say "guilty." Hermione was gone from his life; his parents were surely both going to be in Azkaban, so why shouldn't he join them. Plus, after spending that past few hours with some particularly unpleasant dementors, all he wanted was for all of this to be over so he could sleep.

BANG. The doors to the chamber flew open, and a robed figure walked into the room to stand in front of him, facing the council.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Hermione said.

"You are interfering with a wizengamot trial of a known death eater." Amos Diggory said, looking down on her. "Please wait outside the courtroom. We assure you, Miss Granger, that we will punish Mr. Malfoy for what he did to you."

"What he did to me! WHAT HE DID TO ME?!" She was loosing her temper.

"From my understanding, you are going to try Draco Malfoy for his crimes against me, without calling me to witness exactly what his perceived crimes are? Without even telling me that he was on trial? Where the hell is the justice in that? None of you were there. None of you know what happened. I DO! So no, I will not wait outside of the bloody courtroom while you get everything wrong and send him to Azkaban for something he didn't do. This is not the kind of justice that I fought for- this is a lynch mob masquerading as a court."

She paused to take a breath. Draco had never felt her this angry, he could feel it coming off of her in waves. She had obviously run here because she was disheveled and not dressed appropriately for court. In fact, as he looked more closely, Draco realized that she was wearing muggle running shoes under her robes. He probed her emotions through their bond, and he felt her anger, as well as a hint of apprehension and fear. She was worried about him. Despite his practically hopeless situation, he felt himself smile. Hermione cared.

"It hasn't even been two days since the end of the war. All of your 'evidence' is just gossip and rumors. Draco wasn't the one who kidnapped me. He wasn't the one who tortured me. He is innocent, and he was kept prisoner in that house just like I was. While I was in the manor with him, he risked his life repeatedly to help keep me safe. Everything he did wrong was done under extreme duress."

"Miss Granger, we cannot accept your testimony. As a victim of kidnapping, you may have formed bonds of attachment to your captors despite their atrocities. We cannot trust the truth of your testimony." Mafalda said patronizingly.

"We cannot prove that he doesn't have some sort of psychological hold on you still, my dear. Even muggles have the concept of Stockholm syndrome. You shouldn't have to go through the stress of a long, drawn out trial. We appreciate everything you did in the war, but please let us do our jobs and put as many Death Eaters in Azkaban as possible."

Hermione looked at the council in outrage. "So that is the truth of it. Put as many Death eaters away, it doesn't matter if they are innocent. It doesn't matter to you. As long as they have the mark then they deserve to suffer for the rest of their lives. That is barbaric. Furthermore, I find an affront to justice that you are not accepting my testimony. I am not fragile. I guarantee, Mr. Diggory, that I am fully capable of answering all of your questions. Once I am done, you can decide if I am just experiencing Stockholm syndrome. Either way, I am entering myself as a witness for the defense, so this council will hear what I have to say."

Amos sighed, "all right Miss Granger. In your words tell us what happened to you when you were captured and taken to Malfoy manor."

"Thank you. We were taken at night. Before we were brought to the manor, I had used a stinging jinx on Harry Potter, in hopes that his face would be obscured beyond recognition. Once there, the Malfoy parents and Bellatrix Lestrange argued about whether the boy that they had captured was actually Harry Potter. They asked Draco to identify him, as well as Ronald Weasley and myself. He refused, saying he was 'unsure' despite knowing us all for many years. However, the rest of the group was still able to identify both Ron and I as friends of Harry Potter. Then Bellatrix noticed a sword that one of our captors as carrying. From that moment it was chaos. She started whipping our captors, screaming 'Where did you get that?" Peter Pettigrew took all of the boys to the dungeon, while Bellatrix grabbed my arm and said that we were going to have some "girl talk". She then used a combination of the cruciatus curse and a charmed silver dagger to torture me. She asked over and over how I had gotten the sword, which was supposed to be in her vault at Gringotts. Later Harry realized that Voldemort had asked to use her vault to safeguard more than just the sword of Gryffindor, but also one of his horcruxes. She carved the word 'mudblood' into my flesh." Hermione lifted the sleeve of her robe. "You can still see the scars. She was crazy in her anger, and had already killed a few of the guards just for touching the sword. "

Hermione paused, drawing breath.

"Then Harry and Ron somehow escaped from the dungeon with the help of a house elf named Dobby. They attempted to rescue me, but failed and they fled the manor, leaving me behind. During this attempt, Harry- who was wandless- managed to take Draco's wand from him, mainly because Draco did not fire off a single spell to defend himself."

"It was at that point that Lucius Malfoy decided to tell Voldemort that they had captured me, but no one else. He threatened that Voldemort would kill me slowly and painfully if I contradicted his story. He was probably right. I can still remember how scared and desperate he looked. They used the mark to call Voldemort, and he came."

At this point she turned away from the Wizandgamot and looked at Draco, her voice wavering slightly for the first time. He knew that this had to be painful for her; she was probably unable to look up at Mr. Diggory and the other snooty old witch.

"Voldemort decided that because I was muggle-born, I was no better than a dog. He wanted to teach me my proper place. And so he gave me to Draco, the only person in the room even close to my age, as a present. He said 'teach her where she belongs.' Then he ordered Draco to rape me in front of everyone present. When Draco refused to comply, Voldemort threatened to torture us and then to make Lucius rape us both. He didn't have any choice, and I don't blame him."

She broke eye contact with Draco, and turned back to face the council.

"Voldemort then gave me what he considered 'proper attire' which was little more than a black robe and a leash. He ordered Draco to take me to his room and keep me there for the night. Once we were behind closed doors, Draco unclipped the leash, gave me the comforter off of his bed, and threw up. He was wrought with guilt."

"How do you know?" Mafalda the shrew interrupted. "He could have been acting, trying to gain favor in case of an event such as this. He still committed a crime, even if you think he felt bad about it." Several people were nodding their heads in agreement.

"If you will allow me to continue," Hermione said calmly. "It was later that night that he made me promise that I would survive, no matter what. He then consented to my preforming the Unumentis charm to bind our thoughts together."

The room was silent. It seemed that half of the room was in shock and the other half didn't know what charm she was talking about. As Hermione paused, letting the words sink in, Draco though how this was the epitome of Hermione Granger- always fighting for the underdog. She was in her element- righting perceived injustices. For someone who never fought for the bigger/ more powerful side, she did have a knack for winning. But Draco knew that it would forever confuse him as to why he merited among those worth fighting for.

"Therefore when I say that I know that Draco Malfoy has felt contrition for his crimes and that these crimes were committed only under duress, I have the full support of that bond behind me."

"Unumentis is old magic. Something I doubt that even you could preform without a safe environment. The charm has a tendency to go horribly wrong if it is not done in a controlled setting." Mr. Diggory added. "How can we be sure that you are not lying for him?"

"Why would I lie about something that can be so easily checked? Can I have a volunteer from the council?"

A blond witch that Hermione had never met before raised her hand.

"Thank you. This is very simple. We will disapparate together to, lets say Australia. Based on the time-difference we should be able to enjoy a lovely sunset right about now. While we are gone, I want you to tell Mr. Malfoy anything- a word or a phrase, the lyrics to a song. Whatever you like, and then I will relay the information to Miss" Hermione paused, "sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Jenny."

"Miss Jenny. Just make sure that no demetors are allowed in the courtroom while we are gone. Dementors interfere with the bond, and they give me a headache."

_Is this really necessary, I feel like a trick pony._

_It is if you want to save yourself. Buck up Draco, this is survival. _

_Hermione, the war's over. What do I care about survival_. His voice sounded dry and sarcastic, even through their bond.

_After everything, DRACO MALFOY, YOU CAN'T GIVE UP. _

By now, Hermione had apparated with Miss Jenny to a lovely boardwalk in Australia that she had found when she was making sure her parents were safe. She would have to give them back their memories soon.

A small cough to her left woke her from her reverie, and she turned to the young lady.

"Thank you for volunteering. I don't think we have ever met. I'm Hermione." She stuck out her hand for Jenny to shake.

"I'm Jenny Bones, Susan's younger sister. I was a few years behind you at Hogwarts, and I am working over the summer as an assistant to head of the goblin liaison office."

_You ready for this Hermione. Mr. Holier-than-thou Diggory has a message he would like to pass on to you. Delilah, October 1980._

_Got it._

She passed the message back on to Jenny Bones, and together they traveled back to the ministry.

By the time Hermione returned, a few people had joined the trial, including Harry, Lavender Brown, and a very angry looking Kingsley. Jenny wasted no time telling the court the phrase and date.

"Is that proof enough?" Hermione said sarcastically. She was done trying to placate these people. Amos Diggory was on a pointless crusade, and she was tired of his accusations.

Kingsley, who had yet to speak, decided to intervene. "Based on your testimony, I am granting Draco Malfoy an official minister's pardon. I am also disbanding the wizengamot until such time as full investigations can be completed. The sentences you have already given today are nullified. Those accused of being death eaters will still be incarcerated, but they will not be in Azkaban until they can be re-tried."

Hermione could feel Draco's shock though the bond.

_It's over! _

_I can't believe it. Thanks Granger!_ He laughed.

Kingley continued, "Miss Granger, I know that if you had read enough on the subject to preform the bond, you would understand the significance of the different colors assigned to each bond. May I ask, what color was your bond with Mr. Malfoy when it first formed?"

Draco could feel Hermione's apprehension increase. Why was she so worried about telling Kingsley? From what she had told him, their bond color was rare, but meaningless. As the silence stretched on, he decided that he would answer for her.

"It was white. Blindingly white."

Draco could tell that for most of the people on the wizandgamot this news meant nothing. Some looked politely puzzled, and others just gave blank stares as if he had not even spoken. Hermione had turned to look at him. Her expression seemed to indicate that she was surprised that he even remembered their bond color, but there was also a deeper note of fear. For some reason, she had wanted to keep their bond private.

_Was I not supposed to tell them?_ He asked.

_I don't know._ She responded. _That kind of bond is really rare, and them knowing may make our lives difficult. McGonagall was worried when I told her. _

It was only after she said this that Draco noticed a few of the members on the wizengamot who had actually reacted to his confession of the white bond. Kingsley's eyes had bugged open and his nostrils had flared outward. The witch sitting next to him had actually allowed her jaw to drop, and her eyes were moving back and forth from Hermione to Draco in rapid succession. A few of the front row wizards were now looking at Draco as if his confession had confirmed what they had always known- he was a lying piece of scum.

"I have already informed Headmistress McGonagall about our bond," Hermione informed the room. "She has agreed to work with us to strengthen it, as well as research the history."

"Well, Hermione, that is certainly an interesting development. We wish you and Mr. Malfoy luck. You are all free to go." Kingsley said, waving his wand so that the chains around Draco fell away. He rose slowly to his feet.

Then Hermione shocked everyone present by running over to Draco, jumping, and flinging her arms and legs around him in celebration. Evidently she had no doubt that he would catch her, and he did.

_Thanks, princess._

_No problem, ferret._ She laughed.


	12. Chapter 12

Draco spent the next few days cleaning out Malfoy manor. His father was still imprisoned, though not in Azkaban, awaiting trial. After testimony from Potter, his mother was given a sentence of six months of house arrest. Apparently, lying to Voldemort about Harry being dead meant that the wizarding world would forgive just about any crime. Kingsley had been tempted to let Narcissa off the hook completely because he reasoned that without her change of heart, the battle would have ended much differently. His mother however, thought that many would harbor ill will against her if she was not at all reprimanded, so she suggested the house arrest. Of course, she made sure that the ministry would allow her to travel to any of the various Malfoy properties (some of which were beachside.) His mother had decided to spend most of her "sentence" in the south of France. Narcissa had even invited her estranged sister Andromeda to spend part of the summer in their chateau. Overall, Draco thought that it was more of a political move than a punishment.

Five days after being released from the ministry, Draco received an invitation.

**Dear Mr. Draco Malfoy,**

**You are invited to attend a memorial dedication in honor of those who lost their lives fighting in the battle at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The service will be held this Sunday at 2 pm on the Hogwarts lawn in front of the lake. All who wish to attend will be welcome as long as they respect the integrity of the ceremony as well as the grief of their fellow mourners. Enclosed is a list of the casualties of the battle of Hogwarts.**

**Respectfully,**

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

As Draco looked at the list enclosed, he was amazed to see that the names included wizards who fought on both sides of the battle. What were they thinking? No one wanted to mourn his Aunt Bellatrix, especially next to dead kids like Fred Weasley. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that Hermione was involved with this. She had gone crazy during his trial, yelling about discrimination and intolerance. But this may be too far. He had a feeling that this wouldn't end will.

* * *

Saturday night, Hermione dressed in black. She borrowed Ginny's witchwear mascara, which was guaranteed not to run, and she made her way slowly out into the yard of the burrow.

It was dark, and very few people had been invited to this intimate ceremony. Hermione already felt like crying, and the funeral hadn't started. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were talking in hushed tones to the wizard that Hermione recognized as the same man who had spoken at Dumbledore's funeral. George was sitting in the first row of seats, off to the side. Seeing him looking so lost was almost to much for Hermione. She wished that that there was something that she could do to help him, but she just didn't know what to say. Nothing could make it better for George.

Ginny broke away from Hermione and walked over to her brother, hugging him and whispering something in his ear. Whatever she said seemed to make George feel better, because he smiled and returned her hug. Harry was over in another corner talking with Hagrid and Professor McGonagall. Charlie was talking with Bill and Fleur in hushed tones over to her right. Lee Jordan and Katie Bell had just arrived, both of them holding hands.

At eight, the minister asked everyone to take their seats. He gave a lovely speech about Fred and how sad it was that he had been taken so young. He praised Fred's optimism and his gift for infusing life with laughter. Hermione wasn't the only one who was crying. Hagrid had even pulled out his table-cloth sized hanky to blow his nose.

Then George stood up.

"Ever since we were little, Fred and I used to love that no one could tell us apart. We never served a detention without each other. I told him everything, and he never kept any secrets from me. He was my best friend, my brother, and my partner in crime. I loved him more than I have ever loved anyone else. There wasn't a single aspect of my life that didn't involve Fred, and I never once pictured the world without him in it. It seemed impossible that I would ever be without him. Even our names- no one ever said just George. It was always Fred and George, or Ged and Forge. Some days, I would even spend the day calling him George, just to see if Mum noticed we switched, which she rarely did." He choked on the last words, causing Mrs. Weasley to sob even harder into her husband's shoulder.

"When Fred died, a part of me died with him. But Fred would be so angry with me if all I did in my speech was make Mum cry. I almost guarantee that he would be disappointed at my lack of jokes, and he would urge me to use the occasion as an excuse to throw a party. I can almost hear him in my head saying "C'mon, George, if you get Percy drunk, maybe he will... dance. Have you ever seen anything as embarrassingly as Perce dancing- like a blind drunken walrus that boy. I'm still not convinced he isn't adopted."

The crowd laughed at George's imitation, which was of course perfect. Mrs. Weasley was now almost inconsolable, Percy seemed to be both laughing and crying.

"Now that I have made fun of Percy, my only other job is to get you all to drink. So, if everyone could raise a glass with me." He flicked his wand and glasses of champagne floated through the air. "To Fred Weasley, the best prankster partner a brother could ask for!"

"To Fred Weasley," the group echoed.

Hermione brought the glass to her lips and took dainty sip, still crying silently. Suddenly she felt an odd tingling sensation throughout her entire body. The only thing that she could think to compare it to was polyjuice potion, except without the pain. She looked down at her hands and was surprised to see that she now looked a lot like Ron. She turned to the seat next to her, which moments before had been Harry, but now she saw a very disgruntled looking professor McGonagall wearing Harry's dress robes. Instead of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, it seemed Aberforth Dumbledore was now crying on the shoulder of Alicia Spinnet. Hermione's gaze finally rested on Ginny, who still looked very much like herself, holding an untouched glass of champagne. She stood up.  
"Fred and George were working on a more palatable version of polyjuice potion, but they needed someone to test it on." She laughed, "I can't believe, even at a funeral, that you all trusted food given to you by a Weasley twin!"

Suddenly everyone was laughing, and crying, and hugging each other. George, who was doubled over on the stage, called out an apology to Hagrid over the commotion, apparently they hadn't yet figured out how to modify the potion to half giants.

Hermione looked over at Ron, who now resembled his Aunt Muriel. "Were you in on this?" She asked.

"If I was, do you think I would have chosen to look like Muriel," he groaned. "George is never going to let me hear the end of this one."

"It really is unbelievable magic," Hermione marveled, as she felt herself returning to normal.

"And pretty perfect- Fred would have loved that," said Harry.

_Hermione, are you alright? Sorry. I just know that you are sad._

_I'm at Fred's funeral._

_Oh. _His voice went quiet, and there was a tinge of awkwardness._ I am so sorry! He was one of my favorite Weasleys. _

_Yea, I'm just sad. Will I see you tomorrow at the memorial?_

_I don't know- I'm not the most popular at the moment._

_Come for me. _Her voice whispered, so softly that Draco though he might be hearing things.

_Please, Draco. I need you there._

* * *

Draco wasn't sure if he should go to the memorial. He knew that he wasn't going to be well received by most of the guests, but he also really wanted to see Hermione again. It wasn't like she was avoiding him, but they hadn't seen each other since his mockery of a trial. He missed her. Even though he had no right to. He knew that she wanted to move on with her life and forget about her time stuck with him at the manor, but he didn't want to let her go. Which made him as horrible as everyone thought.

* * *

That afternoon was dreadful. Even the weather seemed unwilling to cooperated. It was one of those unbaribly humid summer days, where the clouds hung low, threatening to crack and flood them all with big warm wet raindrops. Hermione almost wished it would rain because then she would have a respite from focusing soly on her sadness.

She sat in the front row, sandwiched in between Ron and Harry. It had only taken a few minutes into the service before she was bawling into Harry's shoulder.

She knew that she would never be a "pretty crier" like many of the girls in her favorite teen movies, but the past week had proven just how gross she got when she was worked up. Not that she cared about such silly things.

Harry was being his usual wonderful self, as he patted her back and silent tears fell down his face. Last night, they had talked about how their lives had changed since the war. Harry admitted that he was incredibly relieved that he was no longer responsible for the fate of the wizarding world. He didn't have to put on the strong front like he had at Dumbledore's funeral. It was amazing the way you could change perspective in just one year.

The service ended with reading a list of those who had died on both sides. Both Harry and Hermione had insisted upon it. They wanted to set a precedent- all wizards were equal regardless of wealth, blood, or allegiance.

In death, all wizards deserved to be mourned.

Evidently, not all of those attending the service seemed to agree. As certain names were called, the attendees began to murmur restlessly. The tone ranged from uncomfortable to offended to angry. She could feel Harry stiffen as the murmuring grew louder until they became so loud that it was getting hard to hear the names of the fallen.

Harry stood up abruptly.

"Professor McGonagall, if I could say something."

"Of course, Harry."

He turned and faced the crowd.

"I hate giving speeches, but this is important. Maybe people will listen if I am the one who makes a stand."

He drew a quick breath and seemed to steady his nerves.

"I used to hate Severus Snape with all of my being. For most of this last year, I believe that he was more evil than Voldemort. He killed one of the greatest wizards this world has ever seen, Albus Dumbledore, and he did it while Dumbledore was weak and defenseless. I saw it with my own eyes. The proof was irrefutable."

He paused.

"I would have continued to hate him for the rest of my life. It was by mere chance that I happened upon him as he was dying. It was luck that he was still conscious enough to give me his memories. These memories proved how crucial Severus was to destroying Voldemort. He risked his life daily, allowed himself to be hated by those he was trying to help, and he died thinking our world would condemn him as a traitor. He is much more of a hero than I am. He was just as crucial to Voldemort's downfall as I was- probably even more so."

"If it wasn't for those memories, I would have hated him for the rest of my life. How many others were we wrong about? Narcissa Malfoy saved my life. Her son saved Hermione. If the battle had gone differently, they would have been condemned as well. I am not asking you to forget the horrible things that happened during the war. I am just asking you not to blindly hate. They are all dead. You can't punish them, or ask them about their motivations. The dead are beyond our reach. So I am asking you to think of them not only as Death Eaters, but also as parents, or children, or lost souls. I am asking you to believe that they had some goodness, some compassion left inside, which died when they did. That light deserves to be mourned. Any wizard who died is one to many."

Harry seemed to have run out of steam. Suddenly an angry voice spoke up from the back.

"You really want me to mourn a monster like Bellatrix Lestrange? You expect me to believe she had some sort of inner goodness?" He laughed.

Before Harry could reply Hermione stood up, walked over to him, and held his hand.

"If anyone has a reason to hate Bellatrix Lestrange, it's me. If it were not for her, I wouldn't know what the cruciatus curse feels like. I wouldn't have the word mudblood forever carved into my arm, and I wouldn't have been held prisoner at Malfoy manor for months. She killed people I loved. And after seeing her in action many times I can tell you that she was absolutely crazy."

"But Bellatrix Black was an honor student at Hogwarts. She was considered one of the brightest witches of her age. Just like me. But unlike me, she was a pureblood. She was spoon-feed a belief that muggles and muggle-borns were worthless cattle. Then she was forced into a loveless marriage at the age of seventeen because she was a pureblood. Her new husband was a supporter of Voldemort, so she was indoctrinated as well. Because of her skills, her pureblood status, and her marriage, she rose quickly through the ranks. Once she caught Voldemort's attention, he began giving her special treatment. After seeing firsthand just some of Voldemort's preferred methods of intimacy, I can only say that it does not surprise me in the least that she went crazy. How many of you could hold onto your sanity if you had been through the same things Bellatrix endured. I personally was suicidal after a few hours in his company. She was under his spell for years. Yes, she could have made different choices, but how many of you would have had he courage to run away from Voldemort? I don't hate her. She didn't have a choice of who her parents were any more than I did. If circumstances were different, I could have become her. If I hate her than I am no better that those who call me a mudblood because of something I can't control. "

Harry joined her. "We are not here to debate their worthiness. We are here to mourn them. All of them. If you are unable to listen without stooping to petty gossip or snide remarks then I would invite you to leave. Now please."

The grounds were absolutely silent.

* * *

Draco had come to the service. He had tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible, but it was hard when Harry bloody Potter mentions you in a speech that will most likely become one of the most famous speeches in wizarding history.

Hermione had looked so beautiful, tears streaming down her cheeks as she defended his insane aunt. He knew that she was compassionate, but this seemed absurd, even for the Gryffindor Princess.

It had seemed particularly poetic to Draco that right after Harry finished his speech, the clouds finally lost their grip on the rain and it came cascading down, drenching the memorial service. After its conclusion, the soaked witches and wizards made their way to Hogwarts or Hogsmead to dissapperate or meet up with friends. Draco stayed in his seat, unsure if he would be welcomed anywhere. Potter had made it clear that he didn't blame the dead, and he had helped Draco at his trial, but that didn't mean they were friends.

Same for Hermione- Draco thought sadly.

_Where are you? _Her voice sounded in his head.

_Over by the edge of the forest. I'm trying to blend. _He answered.

_Stay there. _She responded.

Soon he saw her walking towards him through the rain. Her hair was plastered to her face and her eyes were still wet with unshed tears. She looked sad, and incredibly small. Draco wanted to hold her like he had done so many times before, but he needed some sort of sign from her. Something that said she still wanted him.

He didn't have to wait very long. Hermione didn't even break her stride, walking straight into his arms and hugging him around the waist. She burrowed her face into his chest, and he reflexively moved his arms around her shoulders, burying one of his hands in her hair.

_Why Draco? Why so much hate? It was supposed to be about mourning and moving on._

_Shhhhh…. It's ok. Don't cry sweetheart. They are not worth it. _

_But… _

_Hermione, love, listen. Not all of us are able to be as selfless and compassionate as you bloody Gryffindors. Seriously it is amazing you won the war._ He joked. _You have to realize that the entire wizarding world is not as amazingly perfect as you are. _

She broke their hug to look up at him.

_You are amazing, Granger. Just give the rest of the world time to catch up. _

She kissed him. It was a sweet innocent kiss. Slow and simple. Made all the more poignant by the rain falling around them- healing them. Draco almost felt his sins wash away with the water.

And like all beautiful moments, it broke suddenly and all too soon.

"OI! 'Mione. Where'd you go?" Ron shouted as he turned the corner to find Draco's hiding place.

"Ugh. Are you two snogging now? Seriously?"

"Yes, Ronald, seriously." Hermione sounded slightly breathless from the kiss and exasperated at the interruption.

She untangled herself from Draco and held out her hand for his.

"I know you said we couldn't kill him, but are you sure you want to snog the ferret?"

"I'm allowed to snog whoever I want. You are both very important to me, so you need to be friends." She stopped.

"Now please." The please didn't make it any less of a demand.

"Hermione, you cant just order us to be friends and expect everything to work out." Draco tried to rationalize.

"Yes I can. I am sick of fighting. I don't care what has happened in the past. You both are to bloody stubborn. I am putting my foot down."

"But 'Mione…" Ron whined…

"We are not leaving this rain until you two agree to shake hands and try to be friends. Either that or fake it. I don't care."

"Fine," Ron sighed; he could tell when Hermione got that stubborn look in her eye it was completely useless to argue. He turned to Malfoy.

"Ferret."

"Weasel."

"Greasy git."

"Pimply carrot."

"Horrible seeker."

"Clumsy keeper."

"Couldn't tell a good quidditch team if it bit him on the arse."

"Oh, and whose your favorite team."

"Chudley Cannons." Ron said defensively.

"Ha. That figures. You would have the same favorite team as Pansy."

"What? Pansy is a quiddich fan?"

"She loves that pathetic team- even bought one of Gudgeon's old uniforms."

"Seriously, that's so cool."

"Yea, she had it hanging in her dorm room the last time I was there."

Ron paused, "You can go into girl's dorms?"

"You can't?"

"Yea, boys aren't trustworthy. Gryffindor figured we would get into trouble."

"Well," Draco couldn't help smirking, "Slytherins like trouble."

He turned to Hermione, "I didn't curse him. He didn't curse me. Sounds like bonding. I would call that a win. Can we please go inside now?"

She just smiled and began to walk off ahead of them. Draco wasn't sure but he thought her heard her mutter "Boys…" under her breath as she walked away.

* * *

A/N: Writing Fred's funeral was really really hard (biggest challenge so far in writing my first story), I tried to make it as true to character as possible but I kept revising it. I am still not entirely happy with it, but I don't think anyone is ever completely happy with eulogies- even in real life.

-Much love!


	13. Chapter 13

Professor McGonagall was in the entrance hall waiting for them.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, please come with me. Mr. Weasley you can meet Mr. Potter in the Great Hall."

Startled at her brusque tone, they followed in silence. McGonagall lead them all the way up to the newly refurbished headmistress's office.

"Miss Granger, so glad to see you safe and sound. Truly, miracles do work mysteriously." Albus Dumbledore's portrait spoke from behind the desk.

"Don't forget my godson, Albus. Fifty points to Slytherin for amazing bravery and cunning," interjected the portrait of Severus Snape.

"Severus, you are a portrait. You can't give or take house points. It is also the summer holiday." McGonagall sighed.

"Min, you only got the job because I'm dead." Laughed Severus's portrait.

"I don't ever remember you being this cheeky when you were alive, Sev." McGonagall answered back.

"Hush now you two," Dumbledore chuckled. "Not in front of the children."

_Is McGonagall making googily eyes at a portrait?_

_They are flirting._

_But she is sooooo old._

_DRACO MALFOY! She scolded. Are you saying that you wouldn't flirt with me if I was old._

_Ah, but I would be old too princess. Though I guarantee I will still look fabulous. Malfoy men just get better with age._

_Not if I scar you before you get old. _

_From what I've heard- witches dig scars. Very macho._

_Well then I will just have to come up with another way to make you ugly- I'm thinking boils…_

_Not enough to stop the sexy. _

_Boubotuba puss?_

_Oh, please._

_Castration?_

_Now you've gone to far woman._

He gave her a look of utter horror, and she couldn't help but laughing aloud.

"Extraordinary," whispered portrait Snape.

Hermione looked up and blushed, it seemed that she had forgotten where they were. All of the portraits as well as the new headmistress were all staring at the pair of them.

"Miss Granger, how long have you been bonded?" portrait Dumbledore asked.

"Since the first night I was imprisoned in the manor. So a few months."

"And what were the circumstances around the initial casting."

"Traumatic." Draco stated bluntly.

"Albus," McGonagall spoke quietly, "they have a white bond."

"What is all the fuss about the color of the bond? I don't understand why it is so important," Draco asked.

"There have been very few white bonds, Mr. Malfoy." McGonagall answered. "I have only heard of one case."

"Though most of the information is speculation, I can tell you what I know. Firstly white bonds are considered the purest form of the bonds. Wizards mostly form them during times of great distress, where the bonding is less controlled, and more intense." Portrait Albus removed his spectacles and polished them on his shirt before speaking again. "Basically, a white bond is a bond that should have been black. In the vast majority of cases, the results of the bond would have been disastrous, but something about your two souls connected. Some call it luck. Some call it soul mates. I personally believe that each of you recognized a certain purity of spirit in the other, and that acceptance kept your bond from failing. The color white has often been associated with rebirth. I think that it only happens when one or both of the bond members needs a clean slate. For them, the bond becomes absolution, as does their bondmate."

Well that's crap. There is no way in hell any part of me is 'pure,' and I will never be. He thought sadly.

His disbelief must have shown on his face, because Dumbledore spoke again.

"I know that this may be difficult to believe, and this is just my theory. But my theories are rarely wrong. At the moment you bonded, what did you think of Miss Granger?"

Draco paused. It was hard to put into words. He didn't want to ever think about that day again. He had felt self-loathing, anguish, and utter despair. But Granger, she had been his only chance at salvation.

"At that moment, she was my everything." He said quietly.

_And you were mine._ Her voice answered back.

"Exactly." Dumbledore smiled down on the pair. "Now, on a more practical side, white bonds can be developed to be incredibly strong. There are even some cases in which one wizard is able to directly control the actions of their bondmate. In order for that strength to appear, trust between the two of you is crucial."

_Wow. No offense, but I'm not sure I want you controlling my movement._

_Me either._

_Glad we agree._

"What were you both speaking about just then?" Professor Snape interjected, peering down upon them.

"We were agreeing that neither of us would like to work on developing that particular aspect of the bond." Hermione answered.

"My dear," Dumbledore spoke again, "it was merely a side effect of their absolute trust in one another. However, what is most pressing for the two of you is the fact that white bonds are the only bonds that are dynamic. This means that your bond could possibly sour and become corrupted."

"Has that happened before?"

"Yes, one of the cases very similar to yours. Two witches bonded in captivity. They were freed a few weeks after their bond had formed. Sadly these two didn't realize the importance of the 'flavor' of their bond, and went their separate ways. It didn't end well." Dumbledore shook his head.

"What happened," Draco demanded to know.

"One of the witches, driven mad, killed her bondmate, and then herself." He replied sadly.

They sat in silence as Hermione and Draco processed this new information. McGonagall then spoke for the first time since entering her office.  
"I would like to invite both of you to stay here at Hogwarts. Spend the summer here, in your separate dormitories of course. That way you both can work on getting to know each other in a less stressful environment than Malfoy manor."

_What do you think, Hermione?_

_Do we have a choice? We can't be separated, and I refuse to go back to the manor._

_What are we going to do all summer stuck at school?_

_Study, _she said cheekily.

_Bookworm,_ he chuckled._ We could be together outside of Hogwarts?_

_Where? My parents are in Australia. Unless you want to move into the Burrow, this is our best option. At least here we can do more research on white bonds. _

_Alright, sweetheart. _He chuckled._ Heaven forbid we go somewhere without a library._

She smiled. Turning to McGonagall she spoke for them both, "Thank you professor. We would love to stay here."

* * *

Hermione had moved back into Gryffindor tower the next day. She spent the evening unpacking and making sure everything was situated perfectly in her new room. Then she pulled out an old copy of her favorite Agatha Christie novel and read by candlelight until she fell asleep.

She woke the next morning to a tapping on her window. Stumbling blearily out of bed, she opened it to allow a gorgeous eagle owl to swoop in with a letter for her.

"You must be Draco's." She spoke to the owl, trying to pet it. The bird didn't respond, instead it puffed out its chest and flew off. "Arrogant, just like your owner."

She pulled out the letter.

**Dear Miss Hermione Granger,**

**If you would be so inclined, I would greatly enjoy the pleasure of your company this afternoon for a picnic on the grounds. If convenient, please meet me in the entrance hall at noon. If you would, please confirm your acceptance through our bond.**

**Sincerely yours,**

**Draco Malfoy**

_Draco…_

_Yes?_

_Why did you send me a letter?_ She laughed. _You could have just asked me through the bond._

_I am a Malfoy_, he scoffed (though she could tell it was only teasing). _Any invitation from a Malfoy should be done formally, in writing and following all social protocols. We need to talk._

_Well, in that case, Mr. Malfoy. I would be honored to accompany you this afternoon. _

_I will see you soon._

_See you soon._

Hermione smiled. Sometimes, Draco Malfoy was as arrogant and obnoxious as he was when she used to hate him. But now instead of irritation her, she found his rakish charming delightful. During their time at the manor he had been continuously tense. Always waiting for something else horrible to happen. They hadn't really talked about his time in the manor before she had arrived, but she did know that he had seen some atrocious things. She knew that he wasn't ready to talk about them yet, but hopefully someday he would.

Moving to her trunk, she pulled out a pair of muggle shorts and a baggy grey sweater that had been her mothers. In fourth year, Victor had told her that he liked that sweater because it made her look adorably relaxed and huggable. She had always thought it was an odd comment, but as she hadn't been on many casual dates- Victor's opinion was the only male opinion she had. Plus, Draco had already seen her naked anyways, so why was she suddenly nervous?

* * *

Draco had spent a good portion of the morning planning this picnic with Hermione. He conjured a blanket, and cast a few spells that would repel bugs, as well as shrink the picnic basket down to a manageable size. He had also spent a lot of time thinking about the fact that he was in love with her. And it hurt. It hurt because he knew that one day she was going to realize just how broken and ugly he truly was. One day, she would get tired of defending him and look at their situation objectively. And when she did, she was going to destroy him. He knew that if he let himself get any closer to her, he would never survive her rejection. Hell, he didn't think he was going to be able to survive it now. So he was striking first. Better to end things now, before she became completely disgusted with him. He would still be broken, but at least he wouldn't have to see her slowly hate him. He knew it was only a matter of time before their bond soured- Dumbledore's words had only confirmed it. Now all that was left was for him to take her on this picnic and tell her.

* * *

_I'm here at the entrance hall,_ she told him at ten minutes to noon.

_All right, I'm almost there._ He sighed as he walked into the hall to meet her.

Hermione could feel how nervous Draco was through their bond. They walked together in an awkward silence through the grounds. She didn't understand what was going on with him. Why was he so nervous? Did he have something to tell her? Was something wrong? Did they have a problem that she didn't know about? Soon Hermione had worked herself up into a tizzy. Was he going to break up with her? They hadn't really talked since they had left the dungeon, but she knew that the last few days had been really hard for him. Maybe she needed to be around more? Did he think she was ugly? The only times that they had kissed since they had left the dungeon were when she had started it. What if he didn't want to be with her. Voldemort had forced them together after all. Oh... gosh. What was going to happen to them? What about their bond? Was that going to sour? She didn't want to go insane and she definitely didn't want to kill Draco, even if he wasn't attracted to her.


	14. Chapter 14

_Draco, stop._

She halted in the middle of the vegetable patch, unable to bear the silence any longer.

He turned to face her.

_Yes?_

_Why are you so nervous?_

_I'm not nervous. _He deflected.

_You can't lie to me- remember. Part of the whole 'bonded for life' deal. _

Draco swayed awkwardly and glanced at his feet.

_Seriously, Draco. This is only making me worried. Is it your parents? Is something wrong with our bond? I haven't felt anything different, but maybe you are more sensitive to variations. _She rambled on.

_Hermione._

_Or is it that you don't want to spend as much time together? I know that you made this bond under duress and that we weren't really good friends in school. _The words kept spilling out of her mouth, and she had a panicked look in her eye.

_HERMIONE_

_But Draco, I don't want our bond to sour. I don't want to be miserable for the rest of my life._

Draco did the only thing that he could think of to get her to stop rambling; he kissed her.

As he pulled back, he saw her looking up at him with a slightly flustered, bemused expression.

"Hmmmm…" she mumbled.

_The reason I'm nervous is because I don't know how to act around you anymore._ He confessed.

She just stared at him, willing him to continue.

_I don't understand why you are even still talking to me. Why you defend me. You were my prisoner. What I did to you was unforgivable. _

His voice shook, and his eyes began to water.

"I just have this feeling that one day you are going to wake up and realize what a monster I am. We are so different. You are light and goodness and perfection. You are so amazing, Hermione. You are so strong and brave and beautiful. And there is a part of me that will always be horrible and ugly. We don't fit. And we can try to strengthen this bond, but I just know that one day it will sour, and it will be because I wasn't good enough."

He wiped a silent tear from his cheek.  
"And I don't want to cause you any more pain. I've done enough of that already."

_Oh… Draco._

"Loosing you would break me, Hermione. So I don't want to keep waiting for the day that your will be disgusted by me. I can't be your lost puppy or your charity case. I want something I don't deserve, and the more I am around you the more excruciating it gets."

She used her fingers to caress down his cheek and across his jaw.

"Draco, you saved me. When will you get it through your thick skull? I was standing on the brink of insanity, ready to give up. You pulled me back. You kept me fighting. No matter how much you try and deny it, you are my hero. I never would have though Draco Malfoy would be my very own guardian angel."

When he said nothing, she continued. "I am nowhere near perfect. Sometimes I am a coward. I have a ridiculous need to prove to everyone how smart I am. And I have parts of myself that are dirty and weak- just like everybody else."

This time she forced him to meet her gaze.

_But I love you, Draco. _

He was totally shocked.

_You can't._

_Feel our bond. I am completely and totally in love with you Malfoy. So stop trying to push me away. I want you and only you. _

_You love me?_

_Yes._

_I love you too princess. _The words were like an oath on his lips.

She just smiled and kissed him.

* * *

A few minutes later they broke apart, breathless.

"So can we get back to the picnic?" He asked, feeling much happier than he would have believed possible an hour ago.

"No. There is one more thing we have to talk about." Now it was Draco who was sensing Hermione's apprehension.

"What now?"

"We need to talk about what happened in the dungeon."

She could feel his tension skyrocket.

"If we don't then it will be hanging over us every time we have sex, and I don't want that."

The topic of future sex seemed to bring him back into the conversation.

"What about the dungeon?"

"I know it was supposed to be all horrible, but it wasn't." She paused. "I am not saying that I liked what Voldemort made us do, but I liked that side of you. I don't want you to treat me like I am some sort of doll because you are worried that I will break. Until today, you haven't tried to kiss me since we were in the dungeon. I don't even know if you are attracted to me in that way or if it was all just survival. So I want you to tell me how you are feeling."

He turned away from her, and used their bond. He seemed unable to say any of this aloud.

_There were parts I hated, like that stupid leash. And there were parts that made me absolutely sick, like when he would watch. Hitting you with that flogger was one of the most nauseating things I have ever done. But there were parts that were nice. I liked being able to touch you however I wanted when you were against that wall. I liked watching you come apart. Part of me even liked it when you called me master, because you were mine._

He turned back around.

_I liked being at your mercy. It made me feel so amazing when all of your focus was on me. And I liked being treated roughly. And I liked feeling like I was yours. And I refuse to let him take that from us._

_Well, I have an idea, if you want to try it_. He said.

_What?_

He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to a clump of trees out of sight of Hagrid's cabin and the greenhouses.

Then he pushed her against a tree and kissed her.

* * *

Hermione was in heaven. She had been worried that Draco would shut down when she tried to talk to him about sex. But instead it seemed like she was only minutes away from getting lucky against a tree. She had wound her right arm around Draco's shoulders to steady herself. Without the tree to support her, Hermione was sure that she would be puddled in a quivering blob on the grass. Her legs felt like limp noodles, and they parted easily as Draco's legs made their way in between hers. His hands had moved up under her shirt to grab her breasts, pinning her further to the tree and causing Hermione to sigh against his neck. She kissed and licked her way greedily along his jawline. Everything seemed more intense because of their bond. This was the first time that they really started exploring how to use it during sex. He could whisper dirty words to her while using his mouth for other productive things, like nipping at her earlobe. She reciprocated by sending massive amounts of lust shooting through their bond. They were incredibly in sync, never having to pause or ask each other what felt good- they just knew.

Hermione's left hand had managed to make its way down to Draco's pants and open the zipper. When they finally came together, it was fevered and deep. Each thrust felt like their souls were connecting. They didn't speak aloud, but reveled in the sensations. Then they both broke apart, and disheveled they sunk down to the grass together.

They ended up in the incredibly familiar position of Draco lying on his back with Hermione draped over him, just like how they had gone to sleep together when they were back at the manor. Their clothes were still disheveled, though they hadn't actually removed any of them. Draco had his eyes closed and Hermione was tracing patterns on his chest with her finger.

_That was so much better than my picnic. _He sighed.

_I can't believe I had sex outside. What if Hagrid had seen us? Or Professor Sprout?_

_Well then they would know what a complete floozy you secretly are._ He laughed.

* * *

_Does our bond feel any different to you?_

_Yea. It feels stronger._

_I agree._

_It also feels muted somehow. Almost like there is static, but for some reason, I don't feel worried at all._

_Probably because you just got laid, _she joked.

* * *

_Shit. _He thought.

_What?_

_We didn't cast any protection spells._

_There was a blanket protection charm placed on the whole school back in the sixties. I read about it in Hogwarts: a History. It is what keeps the owl population under control. Plus there are so many different cats and rats running around Hogwarts that they had to do something. Don't worry; I'm not pregnant. _


	15. Chapter 15

Over the next month, Draco and Hermione worked together on strengthening their bond. Hermione thought that there was no chance anyone or anything was going to come between them now. She had never felt so in synch with another person. She could sense if Draco was still asleep only a few seconds after she woke up, even if he was all the way across the castle in the dungeons.

They had a few hiccups. For one, Lucius's trial had been particularly trying for Draco. She felt so sorry for him. No son should have to listen to all of the crimes that his father had committed. Hermione knew that Draco didn't like to talk about his feelings, especially about his father. She suspected it was because he felt emotions with a ferocious intensity. A few of the mornings before his father's trial, Draco had made himself sick with anguish, and Hermione had to experience the nausea second-hand. It was so strong that she had even thrown up a few of the mornings, and she knew that Draco must be much worse. But she knew that he wasn't ready to talk about it. So she tried to comfort him the only way that he would accept. She held his hand at the hearing, and her heart broke for him as he tried to stay completely stoic throughout the sentencing.

Many people were still angry with the Malfoys. The ministry had seized the manor to conduct a through investigation of all of the dark artifacts. They had also sentenced Lucius to ten years in Azkaban. Draco was allowed to go and visit him once a month for two hours and an extra two hours every year at Christmas.

_Because nothing says holiday cheer like dementors_, he had tried to joke weakly.

_It will all be all right; maybe they will decrease his sentence with good behavior. _

_Maybe, but he will never stop being a death eater. _

_People can change, Draco. You certainly have_. She squeezed his hand.

* * *

A few weeks later they had traveled to Australia to reverse the memory charm on her parents.

"Hermione, how could you do this to us? Violate our trust." Her mother had been completely hysterical. Hermione had been so upset she almost went into a panic attack herself.

"I was desperate. I knew I was going to have to go on the run. And I knew that I couldn't be there to protect you. I worried constantly that if I just told you to flee, you wouldn't disappear completely. If you had any contact with your old lives, the death eaters would have tracked you down. I didn't know that else to do." She was sobbing now too.

Then she felt Draco's reassuring presence as he threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest. She then proceeded to cry on his shoulder, drenching the muggle shirt he wore for the occasion.

_Shhhhh…. Sweetheart. I would have done the same thing. They are safe. They made it through the war. A lot of muggles who stayed in England weren't so lucky, and the death eaters wanted your family more than most. _

She just focused on calming her breathing.

While she was silent, Draco spoke quietly, still holding Hermione and stroking her hair.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger. I don't want to say too much about the last year because Hermione should be the one to tell you when she is ready, but she was captured. That was where we met. I know that if you had stayed in England that Voldemort would have wanted to capture you both just to torture you in front of Hermione. Or to torture Hermione in front of you. You both being in Australia made her less vulnerable, which kept her alive."

There was silence as Mrs. Granger and Hermione both tried to stop crying.

"I think I can understand why you did what you did, Sugarpop." Her dad said reasonably. "But I want you to promise me that you will never use magic on your mother or me again without our knowledge. And you are never ever, ever allowed to erase yourself from our lives again."

"I promise." Hermione chanted as she moved from Draco's arms to her fathers.

It took Mrs. Granger a few more minutes to come around, but a few hours after the memory charm had been lifted Draco found himself having his very first traditional muggle dinner.

"So, Hermione, are you ever going to explain why Draco is here with you instead of Harry and Ron? The last thing I remember, you were complaining about how much he teased you in school." Mr. Granger said.

Hermione glanced apologetically at Draco. "I may have said some unkind things about him in the past…"

"Ohhh…" Her mother chimed in, "Is this the boy you used to call the 'evil little ferret'?"

_Why must all of you Gryffindor's insist on calling me ferret?_ He laughed.

She ignored him.

"We met again when I was captured and he saved my life. There was some complicated magic that I don't want to get into now, but he is my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend, Draco." Mr. Granger turned sharply to stare bluntly at Draco, "what exactly are your intentions towards my daughter."

Draco decided the man deserved honesty. "Mr. Granger, your daughter saved my life. I don't want to imagine where I would be without her."

He paused, "I am completely in love with her, and I intend to stay that way for as long as she'll have me."

_Draco…_ he could feel Hermione's heart melting.

"Ohhhh… that is the most romantic thing I have ever heard." Mrs. Granger sighed from across the table.

"Alright," her father conceded gruffly, "just know that if you hurt her in any way, I may not know magic but my baby is smart enough to make sure you don't get away with it."

Draco laughed, "I agree completely, sir."

After promising to come and visit again the next week (it seemed the Grangers wanted to stay in Australia). An exhausted Draco and Hermione made their way back to Hogwarts for the night.

_How was your first muggle dinner?_

_Interesting, there were a few parts that sounded completely crazy. But for the most part, they were normal. It was more fun than any dinner I ever had with my parents, even if some of the muggle contraptions didn't make sense. _

She spent the journey back explaining a few of the finer points of muggle studies, but overall Hermione was incredibly happy. She had reunited with her parents and they had liked Draco, especially her mother. Walking from Hogsmead, she thought back to the visit. After dinner, her mother had asked her to help wash the dishes, refusing to let Hermione do it by magic.

While Hermione loaded the washer, her mother spoke. "I don't know what happened to you and Draco during the war to make you bond, but it obvious that boy is completely smitten with you. The way he looks at you when you are focused elsewhere, it is like nothing I have ever seen. It is almost as if he doesn't believe you are real. It is rather odd." She laughed to herself. "The only look that has ever come close was when Professor Dumbledore came to our house all those years ago and told you that there was such a thing as magic."

Hermione was pulled from her reverie as they approached the castle, but she couldn't help but compare Draco's look now to the look that he had described in his memory of her when they were first making the bond. Things really did seem to come full circle.

* * *

After dinner, they spent the evening hours together. Draco had lit candles and given her a massage.

_Do you ever think about the future_? He asked.

_ Mmmmm. _She paused_, of course I do. _

He got quiet for a few moments.

_Does it ever scare you?_

_Not nearly as much as it used to. I used to be so afraid that I would never have a future. It was all just a mass of running, hiding, and fighting. After the war, everything else seems less complicated. _

_I guess. _He replied_._

_What about you?_

_I think things just got more complicated as I got older. I used to know exactly what was going to happen with my life. I was going to go to Hogwarts, Slytherin, become a completely badass wizard, take over the family business, marry some pretty pureblood girl, and live in a big house with lots of nice things. I was going to be rich and powerful like my father. All I wanted was to become a true Malfoy. Now, all of the true Malfoy's are either dead or in Azkaban, so my future is all messed up. I don't know how to describe it. I'm not as poetic as you are. _

_Draco, you don't have to have your life all planned out yet. All you need to know is that we are starting school in the fall. We are going to study for the NEWT's and then we are going to graduate. Let that be enough for now. _

_He slid his arms around her waist from behind and hugged her against his chest. Laying his head on top of hers he sighed and breathed in her scent. _

_Compaired to a few months ago, being here with you right now is more of a future than I ever dreamed of hoping for. You know I love you, right, Granger. _

_Yes. I love you too Malfoy! _

Then they made love slowly on her four poster bed with the candles still burning dimly. Afterwords they cuddled together and talked about happy memories from their childhood, their friends, and things they loved. By midnight, Draco had gotten dressed again and made his way down to the dungeons and his own bed. Out of respect for professor McGonagall and her rules, they never spent the night together and she in return never stopped them from spending time alone.

_Night love._ Hermione felt Draco's words caress her as she slipped into bed alone.

_Goodnight Draco. _She replied sleepily as she curled and floated off to dream.

* * *

Hermione was worried. Draco had said that their bond had begun to feel more and more "fuzzy". She thought that their bond felt normal, even stronger from her end. She had spent several days in the Hogwarts library with Professor McGonagall researching white bonds. It was odd how much closer she had grown with the older woman. In the past, McGonagall had seemed like a brilliant but strict professor who Hermione respected immensely but had never seen as a friend. Over the summer, McGonagall had become her confidant. She had come to the witch when she was worried about the fragility of her bond, and they had even had a conversation about whether or not being "fully bonded" would alter her menstrual cycle (thought the literature was incredibly sparse on that subject.) They had shared a laugh over that fact, and Hermione was glad that McGonagall was there for the times that she didn't want to discuss her worries with Draco.

When Hermione had confided that she had missed her period, McGonagall's suggestions had been delivered calmly and logically, which had reassured Hermione considerably.

"I don't think that it is anything to be worried about, after all you have been through a huge trauma this past year, and it is bound to manifest physically. Usually when life gets back to normal, so will your hormones. However, it doesn't hurt to go to St. Mungo's and get a checkup."

"Alright." Hermione agreed, "but can we just keep Draco in the dark for a little while? He tends to worry too much."

"I, of course, would never discuss the medical concerns of one of my students with another student; however, he probably is going to sense that you are on edge. If he really does worry, then maybe you telling him the truth would be better than whatever he will create in his own mind."

"That is a good point," Hermione smiled. "I don't know if I have said this enough professor, but I really wanted to thank you for working with me this summer."

"It's my pleasure, dear," McGonagall smiled. "You have always been one of my favorite students. Just don't tell the others," she joked.

Hermione just beamed.

* * *

So Hermione had told Draco that she was going to get a checkup for "women's issues" at St. Mungos. He, like McGonagall had predicted, had freaked out.

"Is it because of something I've done?"

She could feel his crushing guilt through their bond.

_NO, DRACO! _

"It is just a checkup. There is not much written about bonds and their effect on menstration because most of the books were written by men." She smiled at him reassuringly. "Try not to worry."

_You know that I am going to worry_. He scoffed.

_You shouldn't. _She countered.

_Can I come with you?_

_You can come to St. Mungo's but I am seeing the healer alone. _She compromised_._

_Fine._

_My appointment is tomorrow at 10 am. _

_OK. _

_Have you noticed anything different? Physically, I mean. Since we bonded?_

_No. I gained some weight but I think that is because I am less stressed than I was at the Manor, and you keep nagging me to eat more. _

Her laugh drifted into his thoughts. He always loved listening to her laugh through their bond.

_But you look completely sexy now._

_I've always been sexy, love. It's my curse to bear. _

She just laughed again and kissed him because he was completely right.

* * *

The healer that Hermione visited at St. Mungo's was a special appointment set up by Professor McGonagall. Healer Green was an ex auror who had became a healer after an injury had taken most of his left leg. Healer Green was also bonded.

Hermione spent the first half of the appointment just talking with the older man about his bonding experience. His voice was gruff and scraggily, almost as if he smoked muggle cigarettes.

"Almost forty years ago my best friend Nora and I entered Auror training. Bonding was all the rage back then, and we were both top of our class so we were paired together. Like you know, most aurors are green bonds. So imagine my surprise when I bond with Nora and the light flashes red." He chuckled, "turns out we both fancied each other, even if we didn't realize. The rest, as they say, is history. We got married a few months later, and we had two amazing baby girls. She is the best thing that ever happened to me."

He smiled.

"That's why Minerva thought it would be good for me to talk to you, or even my wife. We have been through just about everything together through 40 years of marriage, so there is nothing that you can't ask us."

"Did your bond ever feel fuzzy?" Hermione didn't know why this was the first question she asked; it was not even her main concern. She was worried that something was wrong with Draco, because their bond had never felt "fuzzy" to her.

"Does it feel "fuzzy" to you?" He asked.

"No, but Draco has talked about it on and off for the past two weeks." How did he know that it was Draco?

He seemed to read her unasked question.

"Is Draco out in the hall?"

"Yes, he wouldn't let me come by myself. He tends to worry."

"Can he come in here? I would like to try something with him."

"Sure."

A moment later, Draco arrived.

_Are you ok?_

_I'm fine. Stop worrying._ She teased.

"Draco, nice to meet you, I'm Healer Green. Hermione says that you have been feeling like your bond is fuzzy, is that right?"

_This appointment is supposed to be about you_, he scolded but shook his head in affirmation anyway.

"Alright, Draco, I would like you to close your eyes. Now when you picture your bond, I want you to think of it as a string or a rope connecting the two of you. Does it still feel fuzzy?"

Draco nodded.

"Picture the rope coming from Hermione and reaching out towards you."

Draco nodded again.

"Now, split the rope."

As soon as Healer Green said it, Draco's whole face changed. He opened his eyes and stared at Healer Green with amazement. The two men seemed to be having an entire silent conversation with their eyes.

"Really?"

Healer Green just nodded.

Then Draco's whole face broke into a huge smile and he gave out a whoop, picking Hermione up and spinning her around.

"What is going on?" Hermione asked when he set her down.

Healer Green spoke softly, "The reason that Draco's connection felt fuzzy was because he was getting interference from another bond, which is just as powerful."

"What bond?" Hermione still didn't understand. _What's going on?_

"The bond between a mother and her child." Healer Green said simply.

It was the last thing that Hermione expected him to say. She could feel Draco's absolute jubilation through their bond, but she was far to shocked to even begin to process Healer Green's words.

"I'm pregnant?" she whispered, almost to herself.

Healer Green just nodded.

"How?" She knew that question sounded stupid, and Green's expression of shock and confusion made her backtrack.

"What I mean is, we have been careful. Only at Hogwarts. Then at the Manor I was on contraceptive charms every morning. I can't be pregnant."

Healer Green's expression softened. He seemed to understand her need for more information, so he took out his wand and waved it over her stomach.

"Now this is just a cursory exam, and my specialty is not in magical childbirth and development; however, I would guess that you are around six to eight weeks pregnant. Based on when I remember sensing my wife's pregnancies, I would guess that Draco's head started to feel a little fuzzy at around four weeks. I can recommend a healer for you to get a better guess as well as set you up with some pre-natal vitamins and guidelines. I know that this is a shock for you both, so I will give you some time to talk."

He waved his wand and a card appeared floating down towards Hermione. He spoke again, "this is my contact information. Feel free to drop me an owl if you have any other questions about possible changes from the bond. I know my wife would also be happy to talk with you about her experiences with our daughters once you get over the shock. I know this isn't what you expected to hear today, but my guess is that most of your concerns are actually more associated with your pregnancy than your bond. You can stay in this room as long as you need."

He walked towards the door, opened it and turned to the couple.

"Congratulations. I know you are shocked now, Miss Granger, but I have a feeling you are going to be an exceptional mother."

With that he left the room.

_Oh my God, Oh my God. I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant. _The words seemed to be on loop in her brain.

_Hermione?_ Draco was more tentative than he had been just a few moments earlier, but she could still feel his joy.

_Oh my God, Draco. We are going to have a baby. _

_I love you, Hermione. You know that right?_

She focused on her breathing. Draco had walked over to where she was sitting and placed his forehead against hers. He was calmly stroking her arms.

_It's going to be okay. I love you. _

She could feel his joy slowly being overpowered by feelings of uncertainty and rejection. She needed to get a hold of herself. She was Hermione bloody Granger, a Gryffindor. She could do this. She was brave. She took another deep breath to brace herself and opened her eyes.

She saw his grey ones looking back at her in concern. She smiled.

_Draco, we are having a baby._ She said again, smiling slightly.

His whole face changed instantly, he was smiling, standing up and pulling her with him, hugging her so tight she almost couldn't breath. Finally he set her down.

Then unexpectedly he dropped to his knees and lifted the hem of her shirt up to expose her still flat belly. With a look of absolute contentment, he kissed her lightly, just under her belly button.

"Hello, baby. I'm your daddy, and I love you very much."

It was the perfect thing for him to say. And Hermione was so confused and overjoyed and shocked and truly touched that she started to cry silently.

She quickly wiped them up.

"Must be the hormones," she muttered, which made him laugh. Then together they walked out of St. Mungos to go and get some lunch.

* * *

"Have you folks decided on dessert?"

"Yes, I would like some chocolate cake."

_Hermione, you can't eat that, you're pregnant._

"With chocolate ice cream on the side, please."

_It's not healthy. _

The waitress walked away, and Hermione turned to Draco.

_Lets get one thing straight. I am the one who is pregnant, so I can eat whatever the hell I want. You are not a healer, and one piece of cake is not going to hurt me. I just found out I was pregnant less than an hour ago and I want some damn cake! So back off! _

He mumbled something under his breath, but nodded all the same.

She smiled. It was cute how concerned he was, but she had a feeling that he was going to drive her up a bloody wall by the time this baby was due.

He looked at her and spoke aloud.

"I know that this wasn't something planed. If the baby is seven weeks old, then that means that we conceived him just around the time of the final battle. I think I figured out how you are pregnant."

Hermione just waited.

"Voldemort designed the dungeon to cancel out any magical charms or spells. So it only makes sense that it would cancel potions as well. Even if my mom was regimented with contraceptive measures, I don't think any of them would have worked in that dungeon. Only muggle contraception would have worked."

"Ohh, you're right. How could I have not realized that?" So much for being the smartest witch of my age, she thought.

He switched to their bond to say his next words, and he seemed to be speaking carefully.

_You know that I hated my life in that place. I hated who I had to be. Before you, I felt completely chained to this horrible fate, but then you freed me. Now, it feels like there is something pure and innocent that came from that hell. I have you, and I have this chance at a future. An amazing future, with you. I can be a better father than my dad ever was. I can change the Malfoy name. It doesn't have to be about backwards blood purity and disgrace. I know this was not what you wanted right now, but, Hermione, I am just so happy._

Damn it, she had started crying again, Hermione thought. At least she could blame it on the hormones.

_If someone had told me a year ago that this would be my life, I would have laughed. Even this morning, I never would have imagined that you would react this way to a baby_. She laughed and reached for his hand. _You keep surprising me, Draco. You really are a good man._

With a sudden realization, she continued.

_But you do realize that this child can't change the Malfoy line, because he isn't a Malfoy. He's a Granger._ She grinned slightly, and she could almost hear his internal growl through their bond.

_Not if I have anything to say about it._

_Is that a proposal? _She teased.

_Malfoy's don't propose, we state facts_. Then he gave her his rascal smile that he knew she loved.

_You are going to marry me, Hermione Malfoy. You are much to smart to ever think that I would be able to survive without you in my life._

Hermione laughed aloud. Some people in the restaurant were giving them odd looks because they had no idea what was going on. What a whirlwind of a morning, and no one in the entire café realized just how much her life had changed.

She smiled again and kissed him because she didn't want to argue. She wanted to marry that infuriating man. Draco's proposal had been just like him, equal parts haughty arrogance and tender vulnerability. He wasn't perfect by any means, but he was going to keep her on her toes for the rest of her life.

Hermione was happy.

* * *

A/N: This is the end. I hope you like it. Congrats to everyone who predicted that she was pregnant. I guess I am just predictable. :)

A few notes before you go.

- I will not be doing an epilogue, sorry.

- I will be doing a sequel (which I think is better anyways.) I have some of it written already, but I expect it will go much more slowly than this piece did.

- I wanted to thank everyone who read and commented on my story, I checked fanfic religiously to read your reviews. I was going to give shout-outs, but there are just so many of you who are amazing!

- Also, if you have made it this far and are still with me, then you have invested at minimum 20ish minutes of your life reading this story, if not more. Now that it is over, I would really love if you could give me a review. Pretty please.


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